More Holes and a Surprise
by DeannaElise
Summary: Emma is a good girl, but ends up in Camp Greenlake. She a little quirky, but knows when to be serious. She also happens to fall for someone, but will he fall for her?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I told the judge I wanted to go to jail, so why am I on a bus going to Camp Green Lake? I'll tell you why. Because, my dad would rather say I was at 'camp' than jail. My parents are looked up upon in my society. They couldn't have me in jail, because, and I quote, "It's bad for publicity." That's what they told me.

I'm in this trouble because some creep tried to kidnap me. Being me, I used common sense and defended myself. The guy backed off, but I couldn't stop punching him. But with my luck, the police showed up to a scene with a sixteen year old girl beating up some guy. So guess who they arrested? Me. I told the court room what happened, but of course, they believed the older citizen. Typical.

So here I am. I've been on this bus for almost ten hours handcuffed to a seat. Doesn't that sound fair?

"Get up. We're here," the guard told me.

"Love to, but can't. I'm handcuffed at the moment," I said to him.

He unhand cuffed me and pulled me out of my seat and pushed me out of the bus, which caused me to knock down some gay looking cowboy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said while helping him up.

"My name is Mr. Sir, you will address me by this name and that name only."

"Yes, Mr. Sir."

"Follow me." He led me to an office which was air-conditioned.

"Now, here at Camp Green Lake we have a philosophy, 'You take a bad bo-kid, make him-them dig holes all day, and turn him-them into a good bo-kid.' Now, since you are the very first girl ever at Camp Green Lake we have built a shower with tall sides and a lock for you. But, you will have to dig a hole everyday, same as everyone else. Now for your uniform. You get two sets of clothes, one is for diggin', the other for relaxation. On the third day, you relaxing clothes become you diggin' clothes."

Just then, a short man with too much sunscreen on his nose came in.

"Emma Robinson, you may have done some bad things in life, but that does not make you a bad person. I respect you Emma." He said to me as if he had spent hours memorizing it.

"My name is Mr. Pendanski, and I'm your consleur. You're in D-Tent, 'D' stands for diligence," he told me while we walked outside, "look here come two of your tent mates."

Two guys came over. One was black, the other white, it was hard to tell because they were both covered in dirt.

"Boys, this is Emma, she'll be your new tent mate. Emma this is Rex and Alan."

"Mom, for the last time my name is…" the black guy started.

"X-Ray," I interrupted, I turned to the other one, "And you must be Squid."

"How, how did you know that?" X-Ray asked me surprised that I knew his name.

"Well, Lewis said the one with glasses is X-Ray, and the one with a towel around his head is Squid."

"And, who is Lewis?" Squid asked.

"Oh, yeah. You know him by Barf Bag."

"You know Barf Bag?" they asked me together.

"Yeah, I'm his twin," I told them, "Didn't he ever tell you he had a twin?"

"No, but he did say he had a little sister," X-Ray told me.

"Yeah, by like two minutes. Now, I want to go put my stuff away."

They took me to D-Tent, and told me which cot was mine.

"Now, let's see if you can guess their names," Squid challenged me.

"Okay, now he's Armpit. He's Magnet 'cause of the bandana on his head. Now your hair is stick-outish, so you must be ZigZag. And your Zero," I said looking at each of them.

"How did she-?" ZizZag said.

"Knows Barf Bag," X-Ray said.

I turned to them, "Okay do we really dig 5 foot by 5 foot holes? 'Cause Lewis said we do, but I think he's lying."

"Sorry, but it's true. Why?" Armpit told me.

"Incase you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the tallest person. In fact, I'm 5' tall." They of course found this hilarious.

"It's not that funny," I said starting to get annoyed.

"Actually. It is, very much so," X-Ray said.

"Well, one of you is going to have to stay behind and wait for me to finish, so you can help me get out," I told them, which shut them up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The dinner bell had gone off, and the guys were taking me to the Mess Hall. As soon as I stepped into the building everybody stopped talking.

'_Oh, I can have some fun with this,'_ I though.

I had changed into my "uniform", but I had the top tied around my waist, showing my camisole, and I had rolled the pant bottoms so they looked like short shorts. I started walking towards the line swinging my hips a little more then I had to. I got my food and went to D-Tent table.

"You know, you really shouldn't do that," X-Ray said to me when I sat down.

"Do what?" I asked innocently.

"Strut your stuff," Magnet simply said.

"Firstly, I will strut if I feel like it. Secondly, they shouldn't be looking at my 'stuff'"

"Well, you can't blame them for looking. Most of them haven't seen a girl for a year or two," ZigZag told me.

"Whatever," I said taking a bite of my food, "Damn, what is this?"

"The home cooking styles of Camp Green Lake," Squid said.

"Well, it is impossibly delicious. I'm going back to the tent," I said while getting up.

When I got back to the tent I got out one of my four suitcases. They suitcase did not however contain clothes, but food. I got out two slices of bread and one of my jars of peanut butter, and I made a sandwich. I also got my notebook out and wrote a letter to Lewis, and Sara, my best friend.

Dear Lewis and Sarah,

Well, I'm here! Lewis the guys aren't jerks, they're really nice. And yes Sara they are **very** cute. Lewis for the last time you are TWO MINUTES older! I come down here and expect to be known as Barf Bag's twin, not Barf Bag's lil'sis. I know Sarah, Barf Bag is a VERY disgusting nickname. Lew, this is the only time I will say/write this. You were actually right; we do have to dig 5'x5' holes. How am I possibly going to do that? Well, I gotta go.

Love from,

_Emma_

(P.S. Sarah send me some 'supplies', if you know what I mean.)

I folded the letter and put it in an envelope, when an idea hit me. I got out the bread and peanut butter and made six more sandwiches and put on each bed.

Right when I settled back into my bed the guys came in.

"So, chica. What have you been up to?" Magnet asked me.

"Oh, nothing," I replied.

"Hey! You made us sandwiches!" Armpit exclaimed.

"Yep."

"Why?" ZigZag asked suspiciously.

"Because the food here is crap and you probably haven't had a decent thing to eat in a long time."

"Thanks," Zero mumbled.

"You're very welcome. But, don't get used to it, I don't have much."

The guys were staring at Zero and me.

"What?" I snapped.

"How did you get Zero to talk?" Squid asked.

"I was nice."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

It was 3:45 a.m., and I was sitting on my cot waiting for the 4 a.m. wake up call. Lewis had told me to start waking up really early. It had only been five minutes and I was getting impatient for the guys to wake up. I was desperate for someone to talk to, so I decided to walk around the tent, until I "accidentally" woke someone up, guess what? No one did. The bell finally rang.

"Get up! Greet the day sleepyheads!" I squealed.

"Go away, Mom," Squid said into his pillow.

"I'm very offended. I sound nothing like Mr. Pendanski," I said mocking shocked.

"Oh, great, you're a morning person," Armpit grumbled.

"So, I've only been up for fifteen minutes?"

"You are way too perky. You're sure that you're normal?" X-Ray asked.

"Hey, I was about to bug one of you until you got up. Be grateful I didn't." I told them while we walked to the 'Library'.

"Who would you have woken up?" Magnet asked me with a complimentary yawn.

"Zero, he seems the least violent out of all of you," I said getting a shovel.

"Aw Emma. We wouldn't have hurt you," X-Ray handing me "breakfast."

"Why?" I said suspiciously, "Because I'm a girl?"

"Umm…," X-Ray said getting nervous.

"It's okay. It's one of the many advantages of being a girl," I said with a smirk. "Besides, I'm tough, I wouldn't have cared."

"Yeah, but we're stronger," ZigZag said to me.

"OH really? I can get you on your knees in thirty seconds," I challenged.

"Ok, try," he said with a cocky grin.

I grabbed his hand, pulled him close, and grabbed his ear. He was on the ground.

"That's what I thought. Come on Mr. Sir is waiting for us," I said letting go of ZigZag and started walking (actually skipping) to Mr. Sir. When I got to him, he looked at me funny.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you telling me that you're not tired?" he asked.

"Yea, I actually got up a long time ago."

"Do you know that isn't normal?"

"Do you know answerin' questions with questions isn't normal Mr. Sir?" I challenged.

"Oh, shut up, ya Girl Scout."

"That is sexiest. How do you know I'm not an actual girl scout?"

"Sorry."

"S'okay. I hate girl scouts," I answered while skipping a head.

We finally got to our digging spot, where Mr. Sir ditched us.

"Okay, Emma. To start your hole…" ZigZag started to say.

"I want to do it by myself, but thanks," I said apologetically.

I walked around the spot where I was supposed to dig my hole. I finally found a crack to put the tip of my shovel in. I broke the surface and started to dig. It had been about five hours and the sun had come up, and I kept wishing it would go back down. Mr. Sir finally came around with the water truck, now the problem was getting to it. I had already dug three feet, and it was just below my waist.

"Help me!" I yelled, "Yeah you, Magnet."

"Wow, Emma. You can dig."

"Lewis said to prepare, so I've been lifting weights."

"How much you bench?"

"Bout 50 pounds, not a lot."

"That's more than most girls."

I took my spot at the back of the line waiting for my turn. When I finally got to Mr. Sir he asked to see my hands, I obliged.

"Ye don't have any blisters," he said as if it wasn't the most oblivious thing in the world.

"Am I supposed to?"

"How?"

"Well, maybe I have tougher hands. I've been in gymnastics since the age of five."

"That's nice. Here's your water."

I turned around and jumped into my hole, and started digging again. A few more hours passed, the sun got hotter. I slowed down.

"Yo, Emma. Mom's here with lunch," someone called down to me.

"I'm not hungry, but can you fill up my canteen? Thanks, "I said without looking up.

A few minutes later my canteen was thrown at my feet, I looked up and saw Squid.

"Thanks, Squid," I said smiling at him.

"Yeah," he said walking off.

After another hour I finished my hole, but I couldn't get out. I started screaming for help, but someone interrupted me.

"Emma, be quiet. Take my hand," someone said.

I took whoever's hand, and let them pull me up. When I got out, I found myself looking into Squid's eyes.

"Thanks," I said.

"You know, Zero's 5'2" tall, and he can get out of the hole."

"Well, he's had more practice."

"What did you get sent here for?"

I was thrown off by his question, "I don't wanna talk about it. What'd you do?"

"Oh, just stealing," he said casually.

"What'd ya steal?"

"PlayStation's, CD's, VCR's, just stuff like that."

"Oh."

We were so engrossed in our conversation we didn't notice we'd already gotten to the tent.

"Well, thanks for getting me out of the hole," I said walking toward my shower. When I got there, I suddenly groaned. Someone had broken the lock. I stomped back to the tent.

"Squid, um, this is gonna sound weird, but someone broke the lock to my shower. Could you guard the door?"

All the guys looked at me, and then at Squid.

"Ummm…sure," he said awkwardly.

"Thanks, again."

We got back to my shower, and I turned to Squid.

"Just make sure no one comes near this stall."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

When we got back from me taking a shower, it seemed like the whole camp knew Squid guarded the door.

Just as we were passing tent 'B' a guy came out and said, "Hey Babe, how about I come chaperone your next shower?"

"Ummm Hun, not with a yellow spotted lizard at my neck," I snapped. I was so mad I stomped ahead of Squid into our tent.

"That jerk! How dare he suggest something so vulgar!"

"Yo Emma, what happened?" X-Ray asked.

"THE MALE RACE! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED! Every other effing guy now thinks I invited Squid into the shower with me! As if I was some slut!" I screamed at them.

"Emma, why don't we all just go to the Wreck Room and calm down?" Armpit suggested.

"And have every person in the room looking at me like some piece of meat? I think not." I said pulling out my journal.

They all left, deciding I should be left alone; mainly because they didn't want to get hurt. Now, I was all alone to write in my journal. I was still writing, when the dinner bell rang. I put my journal inside my pillow case and walked to the Mess Mall. As soon as I stepped into the room, the cat calls started. I just ignored them, got my 'dinner' and sat down.

"Do you want us to take care of it?" ZigZag asked me.

"No, that will only stop them from cat calling, not thinking. But, you are free to do whatever you feel is right," I said.

We, well I, finished dinner quickly and went back to the tent to continue writing in my journal. I eventually just fell asleep writing.

The next morning, I was being shaken awake by some person who was about to get smacked.

"Emma, time to get up," the person was saying.

_'I don't give a damn,' _I thought.

"Don't even bother dude, she won't wake up for nobody," someone else said.

"Oh, trust me she'll wake up. HEY GIRLIE, TIME TO GET UP OR YOUR GONNA BE DIGGING TWO HOLES TODAY!" a very mean person yelled in my ear.

"What do you people not get? I am not in the mood to wake up, I have already explained to the warden why I'm not digging today, so good day and good bye, Mr. Sir," I said in a low voice with my eyes still closed.

I heard a shuffling of feet, and then there was silence, until more feet came shuffling back in.

"Emma, please wake up," a wickedly sweet voice said softly.

I opened one eye to see the warden in front of me. Shit, I hadn't actually cleared things up with warden.

"Emma, would you like to tell me why you are refusing to get up this lovely morning?" she asked me.

"Sure, but make them leave the tent," I said looking at Mom and Mr. Sir.

"Now, Emma…" Mom started, but stopped when the warden gave them a look that clearly said leave. Once they left, she turned back to me, but without the cheerful look on her face.

"Now, what is the problem?" she commanded.

"My Aunt Flow has decided to visit today," I said in a low voice.

"Oh, well, I won't make you dig a hole today, but you have to go to your digging site. Just, knock on my door, if you need supplies," she said in a much gentler voice.

"Thank you."

She left, and I slowly got out of bed, put on a pair of jean shorts and a pink tube top, and walked over to D-Tent. As soon as I got there the guys looked up and stared. I was laughing so hard inside my head.

I walked over to Squid's hole and jumped in. I could feel how uncomfortable I was making him. I walked up to him, and said, "Hey."

"H-h-hi."

"What's up?"

"Ummm…"

"Squid, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I, um, have to finish digging my hole," he said obviously getting over what I was wearing. I pushed myself out of his hole and sat in the middle of all of them.

"Yo, Emma. You do realize that you're supposed to dig?" X-Ray said to me as if I couldn't speak English.

"X-Ray, do you realize that the warden told me I didn't have to dig today? All I have to do today is sitting and watch y'all," I snapped at him.

The guys watched to see what X-Ray would do. All he did was go back to digging.

_'Smart move, X.'_ I thought.

I just sat there, sipping my water every few moments, when I got an idea. I got up and started walking back to the tent.

"Hey chica, where are you going?" Magnet yelled to me.

"To the tent Einstein," I yelled back.

Once I found what I was looking for I walked back over to the digging site.

"Whatcha get, Emma?" Armpit asked.

"My notebook," I said sitting back down.

ZigZag suddenly looked at me nervously and asked me, "Your not taking notes on us are you?"

"No, I'm just writing lyrics and stuff Zig," I said patiently.

"What kind of 'stuff'?" he asked me.

"ZigZag, listen to me. I am **not **working for the FBI, CIA, or anything other government agency. I have **no **interest in observing you and writing notes about you. I'm just going to write a letter to Lewis," I said in a no-nonsense voice.

"Okay," ZigZag said cheerfully and he went back to his digging.

Lew and Sarah,

I miss you both so much. LEWIS, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT THIS PLACE HAD A STEREO!?!? Sarah, send me **_all _**my mixes, they are seriously deprived of good music here. It has a _Backstreet Boys CD _in it for popcorn's sake!

Guess what?!?! I didn't have to dig my hole today! Lew, skip this if you want to remain sane. Sarah, being a girl in this place actually has its advantages, when you get your period you sit around all day. I'm going to get a big craving for chocolate after dinner though, if they don't give it to me **heads will roll. **Ha.

Well, I must go back to flirting with the boys.

Love,

Emma

I closed my notebook and sighed. The truck was approaching us to serve us lunch. We all got into our line. I got my lunch and sat down with the rest of D-Tent, making sure to sit really close to Squid.

"So, you almost done with your hole?" I asked him.

"Yeah, just about another foot left."

"That's good."

"Why?"

"Because, then I won't be by myself for much longer. I'm getting really bored."

"Well, I'm sorry you're getting bored of doing nothing."

"Hey, I haven't just been doing nothing. I wrote a letter to Lewis."

"Yeah, your hand must really hurt."

"Fine, if you're just going to be mean, I'll just tell my friend not to send me my mixes, so you're not forced to listen to the Backstreet Boys."

"What is on your mixes?" Armpit asked me.

"Rap and Hip-hop, no pop, country, or crap."

"Squid, be nice to the poor girl, I miss the sound of real music," X-Ray said.

"Nope, too late. He's said what he truly feels, and I would know that if he was nice it was just because y'all told him to," I said and walked back to the tent.

A couple of minutes later I heard someone walk in, I looked up to see Zero.

"Hey, Zero!" I said happy to see that it wasn't Squid.

He didn't respond.

"Why don't you talk to anyone?"

Again, he didn't answer me.

"Zero, you know how annoying I can be, don't force me to pester you."

He smiled.

"Ha, I got you to smile."

The smile vanished.

"Fine, I'll talk. Today was fun, but Squid ruined it. He is such a butt. Why does he act like that?"

He didn't answer.

"I don't know either."

Then Squid and ZigZag entered the tent.

"Hey Ziggy!" I said ignoring Squid.

"Hey Emma. Whatcha been up to?"

"Just having a wonderful conversation with Zero over here," I replied.

"You got Zero to talk?" Zigzag asked me in amazement.

"Well, no. But, he is a great listener. And he is sensitive to other people's feelings," I said the last part looking straight at Squid

The dinner bell rang, and Squid and Zigzag hurried out of the tent. Zero walked past me, and before he left the said, "He likes you."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The shock of what Zero had said to me had brought me into some sort of daze for the next week. I walked out of the tent and into the Mess Hall. I got my food and walked over to the D-Tent table while a smile on my face.

ZigZag poked me and said, "Emma, is your brain being taken over by aliens from the planet X?"

"No."

All the guys looked at me weirdly.

"What?"

"Well, chica, we were expecting a wise ass comment from you."

"Oh."

I was in my own little happy world, but still completely aware of the conversation about me.

"Do you think she's you-know?" X-Ray said.

"Nah, she had that last week." Armpit answered.

"Well, what could it be then?" Caveman wondered.

"I just think she's a little weird." ZigZag attributed.

"Squid what do you have to say on my 'weird' behavior?" I asked the young man sitting across from me.

"Um…I think that you…need to…you need to…eat something and go to sleep," he replied stupidly.

"Thank you Mother Squid," I said giving him a look.

"She's back," Armpit mumbled.

We all got up to go back to the tent.

"Zigzag?" I asked when everyone was about to fall asleep.

"Emma, it's time to go to bed."

"Oh, come on pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?"

"Fine."

"Okay. Truth or Dare?"

There were groans from the other species in the tent.

"Truth."

"Aw, you're no fun. Squidly, Truth or Dare."

"I'll pick dare if you never call me Squidly again."

"Fine, Arm-"

"Emma, shut up and go to sleep!" X-Ray yelled at me.

"Gosh, X-Ray. You are being very inconsiderate of the sleeping people around you."

More groans.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The next day went the same way: get up at an ungodly hour of the morning, eat some strange concoction for breakfast, watch X-Ray take his shovel back from an innocent person, walk for half an hour to some deserted spot, and start digging. When everyone in D-Tent finished their hole they all went to shower. But, there was one problem….

"WHO THE HELL BROKE OFF MY STALL DOOR?!?!"

Every single person stopped what they were doing in that moment in time and cringed.

I stormed into the tent, only to find the guys resume changing from the pause of cringing.

"AHHHHHHHH!" I screamed and ran out of the tent.

A couple of minutes later Magnet stuck his head out of the tent and said, "Chica, you can come in now."

"Is everyone descent?" I asked.

"Yea."

"You're positive?"

"Emma, stop being silly and come in."

I got up and went into the tent, only to come to an awkward silence. I walked over to my bed and sat, everybody was looking at me. But when I looked up they all looked at the floor.

"So….Emma, what were you screaming about earlier, before…you know?" Armpit said trying to break the silence.

"OH yeah. Someone broke the door off my shower, so now I can't shower in peace."

"What are you going to do?" Armpit replied trying to sound interested.

"I have an idea, so since I'm still icky I think I'll do it. But, one of you need to come with me so nothing bad happens," I answered Armpit, "So, who wants to come, but before you answer everyone needs to get out so I can change."

When everyone left the tent I changed into my bikini which I brought just incase this very situation happened. I put the hideous orange jumpsuit back on and got my shower gel and towel. I stepped out of the tent and asked who was coming with me.

"We all are, if something happens we all need to back each other up," X-Ray answered me.

"Okay, but hopefully nothing will happen."

I started walking over to the where the guys showers were, when Squid questioned my motives.

"Emma, isn't your shower over there?" He asked pointing to where my shower was to make his point even stronger.

"Yep," I answered him point blank.

"Then why are you leading us over here?" Armpit asked getting curious himself.

"Because, these guys are so keen to see me shower."

All my tent mates stopped in their footsteps and stared at me. But, I just kept walking towards the shower. When I got there, I laid my towel over the side wall and took off my jumpsuit to reveal my black bikini to the onlookers. I put my tokens in the shower slot and started to soap up. Squid finally came out of shock and came over to where I was showering.

"Um…Emma, why are you doing this here, you could have just done this at your shower."

"Because, these guys aren't going to stop tearing up my stall until it's just like this, so why make them wait for something that going to happen eventually?" I said casually, I knew that every single eye was on me at the moment, but, it's not like I cared…much.

My four minute shower came to an end, and I turned to grab my towel, only to find that it was missing. I looked at the crowd around my stall only to see some creep holding it. I knew he didn't have any intention of giving it back willingly, so I walked out of the shower stall and just walked to my tent soaking wet with just my shower gel and jumpsuit in my hand. When I walked into the tent all the guys dropped what they were holding.

"Why weren't you guys out there making sure I didn't get hurt?" I asked walking over to the crates, "Can I use one of your towels Zig?"

"Sure, but where is your's? And X-Ray and Squid were out there." Zig answered me.

"Oh okay. Because, that creep, Flash I think his name is stole mine," I told him while I dried off, "Can you guys leave so I can change?"

The guys left saying they were going to the Wreck Room.

I changed into my short shorts and my Hello Kitty t-shirt, slipped my jumpsuit over it and tied the arms around my waist, and went to hang out with the guys.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Hey Emma, play pool?" Squid called over to me when he saw me come in.

"Nope," I answered simply.

"What? You don't play pool? Get yourself over here, and I'm going to teach you," Squid said in disbelieving voice.

I walked over to where he was.

"Okay, all mighty Squid, teach me all your knowledge," I said.

"Hey, don't act like this head isn't filled with supreme knowledge."

"Hey, don't act like you think I'm acting," I smirked, "Okay, get on and teach me."

"Okay," he started to teach me how to play. I got everything down, except how to hold the cue stick.

"Squid, I can't do it. It just isn't going to happen. My hand isn't big enough to steady the stick."

"It doesn't matter how big or small your hand is, here I'll help."

Suddenly I felt Squid step behind me and put his arms around me to help me hold the stick. I tensed up. Of course he had to be as close as he possibly could to me to do this. Oh great, the guys are coming over.

"Hey what are you two doing?" Zigzag said.

"I'm teaching her how to play pool," Squid said, he still hadn't moved from his current position.

"Emma, why is your face so red?" Armpit asked me obviously very confused about the matter.

"Aw, little Emma is blushing," Magnet teased me.

"No I am not. It's just really hot out here," I retorted.

"Yeah, it's _very_ hot," X-Ray said half serious.

"Squid just showing me how to hold the cue stick," I said not realizing how wrong that sounded in my current position.

"Emma, do you need to get some water, your face is getting redder?" asked the still very confused Armpit.

Squid finally stepped back from me and turned me around; he looked at me for a second, and then smirked.

"Oh all of you shut up," I said and walked out to go back to the tent.

When I got there, I saw a letter and a medium sized package on my bed.

Hey Girl!!!!!!!!

I got your last two letters. YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!! I wish I was surrounded by cute guys. Well, everything is boring as hell here without you. And I'm NOT just saying that, I've actually resorted to talking to my fish. Yeah, sad. I've sent everything in the package that you asked for. And a camera, TAKE PICTURES OF THINGS I WANT TO SEE. In other words boys!

Love you,

Sarah

Emma-

I will never forget that you said I was actually right. Ever. You are and always will be my little sister. And I did not need to know about how you get off from digging. I can't believe you think my friends are attractive. And I sent Squid a letter telling him, he should be getting it as soon as you get this. I'm evil I know.

-Lewis

As soon as I read that Lewis sent the Squid a letter with messages for all the guys, I ran back to the Wreck Room. As soon as I got there I saw Mom handing Squid his letter. I ran over and tackled him.

"What the hell Emma? I know I'm attractive, but this is too much."

I snatched the letter out of his hand, looked at the return address and ran like hell back to the tent.

As soon as I got back, Squid runs in and takes it back. He started to open it and I got up to try to take it back. He held it above his head, which is an unfair advantage since he's 6'2' and I'm only 5 feet.

"Squid, before you read that, Lewis is a pathological liar, and you shouldn't believe a word he wrote."

"Emma, I know Barbag. He doesn't lie."

Before I could register what I was going to do, I jumped up, took the letter and ripped it up into tiny little pieces. But, what I didn't notice was that Squid had already read the letter Lewis sent him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Squid, get that idiotic smirk off of your face," I said after I realized what just happened.

"Awww, Emma, I can't wait to tell the guys that you think we're devilishly handsome."

"Fine, I don't care if you tell them that. The devil is ugly."

The guys came into the tent to find a very confusing scene. I was less than an inch away from Squid pointing in his face, and Squid was smirking like the idiot he is.

"Um, are we interrupting something?" X-Ray asked us awkwardly.

"Oh no, but I have just found out some very interesting news," Squid said despite my silent death glares.

"What?" Zigzag asked, his attention caught.

"That Emma over here thinks that-" Squid started.

"Squid is losing his mind to CIA agents," I interrupted quickly.

"I knew it!" Zigzag said proudly.

"No, that's not it," Squid said trying to quiet Zigzag down, "Emma thinks that-"

Before I could even think about how I was going to shut him up, I did the first thing that came to mind. I tackled him and put my hands over his mouth.

"Say one word and I'll kill you in your sleep," I threatened.

Suddenly I felt a pair of arms slide around my middle and pick me up, unsurprisingly it was Zigzag.

"Emma, Squid has the CIA after him, he doesn't need you hurting him along with that," he told me calmly.

"Okay, now Squid what does Emma think?" Armpit asked getting impatient.

"Okay, Emma, tell them what you think," Squid said obviously catching on to the fact that I wasn't going to let him tell them.

"I confess, I think that…I think that bananas are a conspiracy," I finished lamely.

"See guys, it isn't just me, "Zigzag said to them.

The dinner bell rang and the guys minus Squid and me started towards the mess hall. I turned toward Squid just to see him smirk and walk past me. Before he walked out of the tent, he turned to me, winked, and said, "Later Babe."

I sighed and made myself a peanut butter sandwich. Just then I remembered that Sarah sent me a package. I slid it closer to myself and opened it. Inside I found my feminine products, the digital camera, and my precious mixes along with my portable CD player and extra batteries. I popped open the CD player and put in one of my mixes to find the comforting sounds of Lil' Jon coming through the earphones and putting me to sleep.

I heard the guys come back in and just decided to ignore them. I listened to them shuffle as quietly as they could, i.e. very loudly, and go to bed. It had been about two hours after they all fell asleep when some idiotic moron decided it would be fun to wake me up.

"Who ever the hell is shaking me better step off or you will get a face full of fist," I threatened in a not so threatening matter.

I heard the stupid sound of Squid chuckling. I lamely raised my fist trying to prove my point. Suddenly I felt Squid pick me up and throw me over his shoulder.

"Squid, what the hell?" I hissed into his ear.

"I know you like me," he told me softly, after he took me off his shoulder.

"Whoever the hell told you that is off their rocker," I said trying to go back into the tent.

"So, you're brother is off his rocker now, huh?"

"Squid, he was never on," I said still trying to find an escape route to the tent, "Squid, I'm tried. Let me go back to the tent, and if you don't I'll-"

The next thing I knew Squid's lips were on mine, and the wake up bell was blaring?

_"Oh my god, it was just a dream.'_

I got up and got dressed before any of the guys had put their feet on the ground.

"What's the hurry Emma?" Squid asked me.

I tensed up.

"Oh nothing, just want a fresh start. Yeah. Bye," I said awkwardly running out of the tent to go get my "breakfast".


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

All day I had been avoiding the guys, the only ones who I noticed noticing my behavior were Zigzag and Squid. Since I was the newest person, I was still the slowest digger. This fact caused the two suspicious idiots stayed behind to question me.

"So Emma, why have you been acting like well, weird?" Zigzag asked me.

"I have not been acting 'weird'," I retorted.

"Could have fooled us. If you haven't been acting weird then have you taken a sudden fear of seeing us change in the morning?" Squid prodded.

"I am not afraid of seeing you change. I told you, I wanted to get a fresh start," I said starting to get nervous.

"Yeah, because you're defiantly aren't the last person digging from our tent," Squid questioned my reasoning.

"I'll give you a reason, if you help me out," I said.

They both hopped into my hole, and as though I didn't tell them my height on my first day, they found that my hole and I were the exact same height hilarious.

"I told you I was short."

"Squid hand me her shovel."

Zigzag held the shovel next to me to find that his assumptions were correct, the shovel and I were both vertically challenged.

"Help me out, this isn't that funny," I huffed now that Squid and Zigzag were practically crying from laughing so hard.

"Hold on," Squid jested. He motioned for Zigzag to grab me by the ankles and he held me around my shoulders. They made me horizontal and measure my hole with me, what do you know? I was a perfect fit. They finally decided to give me a boost out of my hole.

"So, I would now love to hear this reason you proposed," Zigzag called after me.

"My reason for acting weird is…absolutely none of your business, thank you," I said walking very fast away from them.

"Awww, come on Emma. You know we were just messing around with that height stuff," Squid told me.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"You think that I'm acting like this because you made fun of my height? If you really think that get a reality check, because that is so not the reason," I said to him before going to the showers.

When I got to the showers I was finally going to be away from the man haunting my dreams. Not. As soon as I put my tokens into the slot, Squid jumps into the stall next to mine.

"Hey Emma."

"Hello."

"Lovely day isn't it?"

"Not really."

"I suppose not, it's hot. But aside from that rather nice?"

"If you say so."

"So, why are you acting weird?"

"Wanna hear a knock, knock joke?"

"Sure."

"Knock Knock."

"Who's there?"

"Nun."

"Nun who?'

"Nun of your business."

"Awww Emma, why are you going to be like that?"

"Because I can."

I was thankful that my four minute shower was coming to an end, but unfortunately so was his. As soon as mine ended I didn't even bother drying off, I went straight back into the tent. I started ushering everyone out, so I can change. They said they were going to the Wreck room.

I finally had some peace. I was still in the process of putting my shirt on when something happened, Squid had accidentally walked into the tent, time seemed liked it had stopped. There he was still wet from his shower, and me, who was in the middle of pulling up my shorts.

"Oh my gosh Emma, I didn't mean to, I didn't know."

"Squid, it's okay. You didn't see anything, did you?"

"No."

"Okay, then. We're even. Come on everyone's in the Wreck Room, and I'm bringing my mixes."

"Aren't you putting your jumpsuit on over that?"

"No, like you said. It's hot out."

We walked to the Wreck Room together. When we actually got there all the guys looked at me, they hadn't actually really seen me out of the jumpsuit, well aside from the showers. I didn't really care though. I walked over the stereo, popped in my mix, and hit play. I awaited the approval of the Ying Yang Twins song Boom! It's On. There weren't any complaints.

I walked over the pool table, the notorious D-Tent hang out spot. They all started at me.

"What? Do I have something on me? Do you not like the music, because I can always take it out?" I asked them.

"Don't you dare change the music, but I didn't expect you liking this kind of music," X-Ray said surprised.

"Really? I love this kind of music. I used to dance to it a lot."

"As for if you have anything on you, what do you have on? It hardly covers you!" Magnet said as though it was some kind of crime.

"This? They're called jazz shorts and a t-shirt."

"Those 'jazz shorts' look like underwear and that t-shirt shows your stomach," Armpit added.

"Last time I checked, none of you are my dad. And as long as that fact remains I will wear what I want to. Besides, I wasn't planning on staying here, I was dropping off my mix and coming over to tell you that I was going to be in the tent to stretch my muscles out."

"Emma, just stretch here, no one is going to care," Zigzag told me.

"Okay."

I started my stretching routine. First I did the stretching they taught us in middle school, touch my toes and butterflies and stuff. Squid and the guys were starting to stare when I started the more physical stuff. I did both my side and center splits, which caused many "That looks painful" comments. Then I did my scorpion, backbend, and finished with yoga positions. When I did finish I found that every guy in the room was looking at me.

"Yeah, Zig. No one's going to care," I said sarcastically.

"How in the HELL did you that?" they all screamed at me.

"I'm just flexible."

"That an understatement," Squid mumbled.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Lewis and Sarah,

I have been given a nickname, but before I tell you it I want you to think about how good at stretching I am and what it could possibly be. It's Twist. Fits me doesn't it. I loved the package you sent me. LEWIS I HATE YOU WITH THE PASSION OF A THOUSANDS SUNS, i.e. a lot. You told him, whatever happened to brother-sister confidentiality? I've been betrayed by my own flesh and blood. Sarah, I swear if you knew about this I'm disowning you. Well, I regrettably haven't taken any pictures yet, I'm going to try and get them in their natural environment. Ha. Squid walked in on me changing; well I walked in on them the day before. But, don't worry Lewis; I'm sure that that hasn't (along with your letter) changed Squid's feelings of me. Guess where I have to shower now? With the boys. Lewis, I hope you are sick with worry now.

Love from,

Emma aka Twist

"Who are you writing to, Twist?" Squid asked me as he came in the tent.

"Lewis, just telling him how you guys gave me a nickname, the past incidents, including the one where you walked in on me…" I rambled on.

"WHAT? You're telling your brother about that? If he comes back he's going to kill me."

"Squid, he has no problem telling you things about me, and I have no problem telling him things about you. Now, if you perchance knew things about him, be sure that you shouldn't have any problems telling me. I probably already know anyways," I said to him while walking to the Wreck Room to put the letter in the mail box. But, before I got there, Squid had caught up with me to try and stop me.

"Squid, what on earth do you think could stop me from mailing this letter?" I asked.

He seemed to be thinking, shocking. I think he finally came to the realization that I'm a very stubborn person. He finally seemed to have come to a conclusion. I say this because he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"WHAT THE HELL? SQUID PUT ME DOWN! NOW! I AM AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!"

Apparently people could hear in the Wreck Room, Zigzag being one of them. My mind made the decision to use him to my advantage in my current position.

"Ziggy! Come here quickly!"

"What Twist?"

"Put this letter in the mail box. It is a life or death situation, if you don't; something bad is going to happen."

He actually took the letter and ran. Squid had put me down.

"Thank you, that was an adventure for me."

"How was that an adventure?"

"You let me see the world from your point of view. Actually, I didn't really see much, except your butt."

The look on his face was priceless, and it got better when five minutes later Zigzag came back to tell me that the letter was in the mailbox.

"Thank you so much, Ziggy."

"No problem. Now nothing bad will happen."

"Actually, the only bad thing that could happen is when Lewis comes back to finish his sentence; he is to kill Squid."

Squid was still standing in the spot with that face, that hilarious face. I got an idea. I ran back to the tent, grabbed the camera, and SNAP! That seemed to bring him out of his state of mind, if he has one.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Squid? Squid? EARTH TO SQUID!" I screamed getting impatient.

He finally seemed to come out of his shock, and he looked at me as though he was seeing me for the first time.

"You just sent my death sentence, do you know that? If BarfBag comes back, he is going to _kill_ me," Squid said dramatically.

"And I shall miss you dearly, but until them I think I should take as many photos of you guys as I can. Mostly because my friend wants to see want you look like."

So, for the next couple of weeks I had been taking pictures of the guys. I had gotten them eating breakfast, Squid yelling at Magnet to go back to his spot in the line, Zero lying on his cot, them playing pool, and so on. I tried my best to get them in their natural environment. But, of course the girl in me needed to get them smiling too, because it's just not that attractive to see them stuffing their faces. So, when I was almost finished filling the memory card, I asked them to take a picture of me. And they did, which filling up all the picture space. So, I packed the camera up and sent it to Sarah.

I had been at Camp Green Lake for 2 months now, and I was getting restless about not having another girl here. And no, the warden doesn't count. And on top of that X-Ray was leaving in a month.

We were at another one of those stupid meetings, and we were all thinking of ways to kill Mom. My personal choice was drowning him in his vat of sunscreen. But, this feeling disappeared because he told me the two of the three things I have been longing to hear since I set foot on the Godforsaken place.

"Emma, your brother Lewis is coming back in three weeks. And the week after that some more girls are coming," Mom said to the group.

"YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, which cause some of the guys to fall off their seats.

"Jeez, Twist," they all murmured.

"Other human beings are going to be here with me! I can't wait! What are their names? How old are they? What tent are they going to be in?" How long are they-" I asked rapidly.

"Okay, slow down Emma. Some of them are going to be in DG-Tent."

"DG-Tent?"

"Yes, it's the D-Tent for Girls, every tent is getting one.

"So, does this mean that I'm leaving D-Tent?" I asked sadly.

"Now, you're just leaving the guys D-Tent, but that's so Lewis can be in there."

The meeting ended after that, and I was so happy, I was going to see my brother in three weeks. And after that, more intelligent beings.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The next three weeks, were the longest and shortest of my life, if that makes sense. But it was not long before I saw that hunk-a-junk bus driving down the non-existent road.

"Lewis is in there!" I squealed to the guys while we were taking a break from digging.

"Finally, he hasn't been here for almost three months," Armpit said quietly.

"Well, he was in the hospital, it wasn't his fault," I said defending my brother.

"Actually it is. He's the one who stuck his barefoot towards a rattlesnake, nobody forced him," X-Ray said.

"Well, you guys didn't stop him, so…yeah," I finished lamely. I was mad that the guys were bagging on Lewis, but they were right, it was his own fault.

I dug as fast as I could, but I was still the last one done, but I cheated, I stopped when only five inches were left. They don't seriously check every hole. I ran back to the campsite. As soon as I got back there; I put the shovel in the pile, showered, and got dressed. After I did all of that in a time frame of 7 minutes, I stopped and just stood there.

_'Something isn't right,'_ I thought to myself. There wasn't anybody around. Sure enough, after standing there for only 10 seconds I was tackled to the ground by my brother.

"Lewis! You are **finally** here, I swear these guys are driving me insane," I said as he pulled me up into a hug.

"I'm glad that I'm back, well not really. I would rather not be here. But, I'm glad that I'm here to make sure that no guy hits on you. By the way, where is Squid?" Lewis asked me.

"Lew, don't hurt him. We're just friends, nothing more. I swear. And you shouldn't get into a fight on your first day," I scolded.

"You're right, I'll kill him tomorrow," my idiotic brother smirked.

"That's not funny, now come on. I'm sure the guys want to see you," I said pulling him to the tent.

"Emma, they've already seen me. If you hadn't noticed they did get back before you," Lewis said before I could give him an embarrassing introduction.

"Hey BarfBag, hey Twist," was the general greeting we got from our tent mates.

"That's a disgusting nickname," I said point-blank. I got a glare from my brother. "What? It is, don't expect me to call you that."

"Well, don't expect me to call you Twist," he said.

"Like I care," I scoffed.

Before we could continue this calm before the argument, Mom came in.

"Welcome back Lewis!"

"Mom, my name is Barfbag."

"I'm sure that you will find that nothing has changed, and that you are still expected to dig a 5'x5' hole everyday. And if you try to pull a stunt like you did last time, we won't be as gentle," Mom continued like he always did when we corrected him on our names.

"Okay, Mom. Bye now," Lewis said giving a major hint to Mom, which of course he didn't get for a minute or two.

"Hey, there's a problem. Barfbag, you don't have a bunk," X-Ray said as though he really couldn't care less.

"I'll just sleep on the floor," Lewis said despite my protests.

"Is everyone back home okay?" I asked a couple of minutes later.

"Yeah, but Sarah wasn't lying. She is talking to her fish. I suggested a couple of times that she needed to go to a therapist."

"What did she do when you told her that?"

"She said that the therapist would think that she's insane. Which she is, I don't care if she's your best friend, she's nuts."

"Well, there is a lot of stuff I could say about your friends. For one most of them look terrible in orange."

"Hey," Magnet said obviously figuring out I wasn't talking about Lewis's friends back home.

"Well, she's right. Orange is just a horrible color for your complexion," Lewis said mocking me.

"If you're just going to make fun of me, I'm going to bed. Good night, everyone but Lewis."

"Love you too, Sis."

"Hmph."

The rest of them went to sleep an hour later, after being extremely loud and rude.

* * *

Selphie Ivy- thanks, I know they don't really act like they should, but it just works better if they don't

amrawo- so glad you like it

xholly-roxx- thanks, I'm glad you think its funny

4biddinvampslayer- thanks

powderedsugar- I love 'Work It'. I hope you got my review

ButtersAwHamburgers- I love the movie and book too, well it's kinda obvious


	13. Chapter 13

The following day a bus came down the dirt path with two new recruits in it.

"I hate them," I said entering my old tent.

"Who?" Lewis asked.

"Who do you think? Them. Those sad excuses for humans. Lillian and Theresa are just icky."

"You are just jealous because the guys are looking at them and not you."

"I am not _jealous_. I just don't like them, they are sluts. Do you realize how old it is to hear _'Emma, your brother is sooooooo cute.'_ I mean, ew, gross, like I wanted to hear that. They are so horrible. I want to move back in with you guys, I will sleep on the floor if I have to. But, I refuse to spend another night with just those two in there."

"They think I'm cute?"

"Yes, they obviously been in the sun for too long."

"Well, today some other girls are coming, so hopefully you will get better roommates."

"Of all the early people to arrive, why did I have to get stuck with them. WHY?"

"I don't know and I don't really care. You have to leave now, I want to change out of my work clothes."

I walked out of the tent just in time to see a bus coming towards Mr. Sir's office.

"Welcome to hell," I murmured.

I walked over to where the bus stopped to get a look at the lucky new members of this high quality establishment. Not. I felt so sorry for these poor people who had no idea what lay in their future.

The first girl to get off the bus was at least 5'8", had red hair, and looked like she didn't give a shit about where she was or why she was here.

The next girl literally did a face plant while getting off the bus, but she jumped right back up. She looked normal, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes from what I could tell. And she gave me the 'insane' vibe.I liked it, I needed another insane person in this place.

The last girl to get off the bus was the person who stuck out most to me, mostly because she had bright light blue hair. My grandma would roll over in her grave if I did that to my hair. But she looked tough; well she would have to be. Where I'm from you would get emotionally tortured for having blue hair. I didn't get a good looked at her face, but I would later.

I walked back to the tent half praying that Lillian and Theresa wouldn't be in there and half hoping that they would be just so I would know they aren't out flirting with Squid and my brother.

"Hello Emma," Lillian said to me as I entered the tent.

"Hi," I said now hoping that they would just leave me alone.

"Who was on the bus?" Theresa asked me obviously ignoring the fact that my back was turned to both of them.

"People," I answered.

They still really hadn't figured that I did **not** like them in the least. Think of the dumbest two people you know and multiply that by ten and you will have Lillian and Theresa.

Mom finally came into the tent to introduce the girls who had gotten off the bus earlier.

"Girls, this is Charlotte," he said pointing to the tall red head.

"It's Charlie," she snapped.

"This is Victoria or Tori as she wants to be called," he said referring to the hyper active tween.

"And this is Isabella," he said putting his hand on the blue haired girl.

She looked up and I finally got a look at her face. She had almost black eyes, a straight nose with freckles across it. But her most distinctive feature was her three inch scar.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, the stupid internet stopped working at my house. We had this huge power outage on my street, and my house is the only house that was damaged. And then when it finally restarted, I got sick and stayed sick. Lucky me. Oh trust me, I would never allow Barfbag to kill Squid, just isn't going to happen.

Running To Stand Still: You can bench 75lbs? Good grief, I'm one of those people who couldn't lift 45lbs. I'm a dancer (hip-hop) so I don't have a lot of muscle. Glad you like it!

amrawo: thank you!

powderedsugar: If you a fly gal get your nails done  
Get a pedicure, get your hair did  
Boy, lift it up, let's make a toast-a  
Let's get drunk, that's gon' bring us closer  
Don't I look like a Halle Berry poster  
See the Belvedere playin' tricks on ya  
Girlfriend wanna be like me, never  
You won't find a b that's even better  
I make you hot as Las Vegas weather  
Listen up close while I take it backwards

Thanks!

MelindaGriswald: I'm a HUGE Squid fangirl.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"She scares me," I said plopping onto Lewis's bed.

"Me too," Squid said.

"I wonder where she's from," I said aloud.

"Me too."

"I also want to know why guys are complete idiots."

"Me to-HEY!"

"Well, pay attention."

"But I'm tired."

"I don't care; I'm bored and you are the only decent person to talk to who isn't digging."

"So, if Charlie or Tori were to suddenly appear you wouldn't talk to me and I would be able to sleep."

"No, I would talk to all of you and make sure all of you talk to me."

Then everybody, except Isabella, came into the tent.

"She's abnormal, we've been here for almost a month and she doesn't talk or eat with any of us," Lillian said coming in last.

"And she has blue hair," Theresa agreed.

"Nobody but you two care about her hair color," Charlie snapped at them.

I could stand Theresa and Lillian now, but I still didn't like them.

"Nothing really bothers me about her except her scar," I said impatiently. People just assume they come into the tent and talk to me. I wanted to talk to Squid and only Squid. But, of course, no one figured this out. Well, if I couldn't talk to Squid, niether could the other girls.

"I'm tired, let's go girls," I said faking a yawn.

"But, you were all talkative a minute ago, and wouldn't let me sleep because of it," Squid said looking at me.

"Well, now I'm tired. Do you have a problem with that? No, didn't think so. Come on."

We girls walked out of the tent and into our own.

"How come a two minute walk between their tent and our tent makes me all dirty and sweaty again?" Theresa asked to nobody in particular.

"Because this is Hell if you hadn't noticed," Charlie said to her.

"No it's not. If this was Hell, we would be dead," Lillian said.

"Well, we could fix that for you," Tori said to her. Lillian and Theresa were the only two people who Tori disliked enough to not be insane around them.

"No, the last things we need are two bodies," I said warningly at Tori.

"I was just joking."

"I thought you were tired?" Charlie asked me.

"Not really, I just was tired of being around the guys," I said quickly.

"Of course you were," Tori said knowingly. She was the only person I told about Squid, and she knew if she told I would personally kill her painfully and slowly.

Just then Isabella came into the tent. We all looked at her, she didn't even notice. She just walked past us, and lied down on her cot and faced away from us. We looked at each other and went back outside.

"Tomorrow we should try to include her in something," Tori said.

"We should make her come to see X-Ray leave tomorrow," I said.

Y'all I know I haven't writen in such a long time I am such a horrible person. My computer crashed and I had to erase EVERYTHING and start all over, I had this chapter written in a notebook, but my mom went on one her cleaning rants and threw it out. So, I got to write it all over again. And I'm pissed because the first one was so much better and I can't remember it.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Today was the day X-Ray left to go home. Everybody was really upset, everybody except X-Ray.

"Twist, why would I be upset, I'm going home," he said to me that morning.

"Well, I thought you would be a little upset," I said to him walking over to the Library.

"Why?"

"You are leaving this camp and probably never going to see me again," I said with a smile on my face.

"Twist, you know I will miss you and everyone else; I'll write."

"Liar."

"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying. Now, be happy. Soon you will be leaving here too, and you wouldn't want everyone around you depressed because of it."

"Yes I would. It shows that I am wanted, as it should be."

We got our shovels and we walked to the digging site one last time together in silence. Well, until the rest of the gang caught up with us.

"Hey X, I bet you can't wait for that ten hour bus ride home," Magnet said.

"I bet you can't wait for that eight month wait for your bus ride home," X-Ray said back while starting to dig his last hole. So sad.

"What is the first thing you are going to do when you get home?" Armpit asked.

"Take a hour long shower with hot water, then eat some real food."

"How do you think the people in you neighborhood will react when you get back?" ZigZag asked.

"Don't know, don't care."

"Well, you shouldn't, they probably don't know anything about what really happened," Charlie said.

"Well, I don't, and they probably don't."

All the guys were asking X-Ray questions about what he was going to do when he got home all through the day. When everyone was done with their hole and had showered, me and the girls went to our tent to try and convince Isabella to come to X-Ray's leaving of Hell. We walked into our tent and found Isabella once again facing away from us on her cot.

"Um, Isabella?" I said quietly walking towards her.

She turned around, "What?"

"Do you want to um, and I understand if you don't, watch X-Ray leave?"

"Sure."

"I mean it's not like you really know him, so I guess you wouldn't really care, but we think he'd appreciate it."

"I said okay."

"Oh, okay cool. Well, Mom said his bus was coming in like an hour or so, so when it comes we'll be out there."

"Okay. Bye," she said turning back away from us.

The rest of us left the tent and walked back to the guys.

"Oh my goodness, guess who Twist got to make an appearance in front of us," Tori said excitedly.

"Isabella! She actually agreed to come out of her little cove!" Lillian squealed.

"How did you manage that? She like never comes with us anywhere," Squid asked me.

"I asked her, and she said yes. Amazing isn't it?" I said a little shocked myself.

An hour passed way too quickly, and we only knew it had been an hour when the crap yellow bus pulled up.

"Well, this is it," X-Ray said.

All of us girls got up and hugged X-Ray. Isabella came over and joined us.

"Bye X-Ray," she said quietly.

"Bye Stranger," X-Ray said to her. He had given her a nickname.

"Hey, how come we don't have nicknames yet?" Lillian, Theresa, Charlie, and Tori screamed at him.

"I haven't thought of any yet."

"Well hurry up, I want an official X-Ray nickname," Charlie ordered.

"Okay, Lillian you are now Princess. Theresa you're Dutchess. Charlie, I dub you Tough Cookie but TC for short. And Tori, you're new name is Hype. Okay happy?"

"Very," they all said giving hime one last hug.

X-Ray looked at the guys and gave them one last nod and got on the bus. But after he got on a chubby boy got off.

"Hi, my name's Stanley. Where's the main office?"

* * *

i think in a previous chapter i had put stanley in there by accident, just pretend armpit said it. all good.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: none of the stuff you recognize is mine. i took a lot of stuff from the book for this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Before we could give this Stanley kid any directions, Mr. Sir grabbed him and dragged him to his office. We were all stunned, there was already a replacement for X-Ray. Gosh, how many Juvies were there?

"What are we waiting for? Let's go watch the new kid with Mr. Sir," Magnet said walking over to the window in Mr. Sir's office. We all looked at each other and followed him.

"Move over, shortest get the front," I said pushing all the giants out of my way.

"What's happening?" Charlie said over people's head.

"No, bad! Don't laugh at Mr. Sir's name!" I said in desperation.

"That's not that bad. Everyone laughs at Mr. Sir," Squid said.

"I didn't," Isabella said quietly.

"No, no, no!" I said.

"What?" everyone behind said.

"He tried to take the Coke."

"Idiot," the guys mumbled.

"Be nice. He is going to be sleeping in the same tent as all of you," Theresa said.

"If he passes the test," Armpit said.

"What test? I never took any test?" I said turning my attention away from the window.

"The whole 'Do What You're Told Without Questions Test'. You weren't ever going to pass it because you do nothing that you are told, so there was no point in giving it to you," Squid smirked.

"You're right, I don't take orders from morons."

"You two love birds shut up, we are trying to pay attention to Stanley and Mr. Sir," ZigZag whispered.

"What's happening?" Charlie yelled from the back.

"Well, Stanley and Mr. Sir are WALKING TOWARDS THE DOOR! MOVE PEOPLE MOVE!" I yelled running back towards the guys tent.

We made it back to the tent and we were all out of breath. After we were all breathing normally we started to talk about the new kid.

"I wonder what he did?" I asked aloud.

"Who knows? People do some crazy stuff," Armpit.

"I know one thing, he is going to claim that he is innocent, as we all do," I said watching Mom walk up with him.

"Now, Stanley this is your new tent. It is D Tent, 'D' stand for-"

"Diligence!" We all screamed from inside.

"Well, yes," Mom said coming in with Stanley. "Guys and girls this is Stanley, guys he will be your new bunkmate. Stanley this is Alan, Jose, Theodore, Ricky, Emma, Charlotte, Victoria, Isabella, Theresa, and Lillian. The girls are in D-Tent's counter-tent, DG-Tent."

"Actually, I'm Squid. That's Magnet, Armpit, ZigZag, Twist, TC, Hype, Stranger, Dutchess, and Princess. And Zero's on the cot in the far corner. And that's Mom." Squid corrected Mom for the umpteenth time.

Mom smiled at him. "If it makes you feel better to call me Mom, Alan, go ahead and call me Mom." He turned to Stanley. "If you have questons, Theodore will help you. You got that, Theodore. I'm depending on you. You were all new here once," said Mom, "and you all know what it feels like. I'm counting on every one of you to help Stanley."

Mom left the tent and everyone was staring at Stanley.

"Um, where is my cot?" he asked nervously.

"Right there, beside mine," said Armpit.

"Um, how come you all have nicknames?" he asked even more nervously.

"The kid you replaced gave them to us. His name was X-Ray. You might get one, if you fit in," Squid said toughly.

The guys were trying to scare Stanley, which was juvenile.

"Stanley, ignore them. They are so full of themselves. Come on that's the dinner bell," Lillian said pushing everyone out of the tent.

"Now, the food here sucks. Sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally, mostly both. So, Twist has extra supply in her baggage, because trust me you will need it," Theresa said.

"Which one is Twist again?" he asked a lot less nervous.

"That would be me!" I said jumping up to them.

"Why are the guys giving me looks?" Stanley said looking at the D-Tent table while in line with us.

"Because we're giving you attention. And you replaced their 'leader'; sidenote, Squid is the new 'leader'. Do what he says no questions, or you will suffer. But, don't be scared of them, they're all talk. They'll protect you when you need it," Charlie said following him.

We all sat down, but Stanley seemed confused on where to sit.

"Stanley, sit by me," I said.

"What'd you do?" Squid asked Stanley.

At first Stanley didn't know what he meant.

"They sent you here for a reason."

"Oh," he realized. "I stole a pair of sneakers.'

The boys thought that was funny.

"From a store, or were they on someone's feet?" asked ZigZag.

"Uh, neither," Stanley answered. "They belonged to Clyde Livingston."

The guys didn't believe him, and the girls had no idea who that was.

"Sweet Feet?" said Squid. "Yeah, _right_!"

"Who?" Tori said.

"Just the fastest, greatest baseball player ever," Magnet said.

"No way," said Armpit.

"How do you know?" Isabella said quietly.

"Because, that's impossible, nobody could steal Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston's shoes," Magnet said as though all of us girl were stupid.

"He could have done it," Charlie said.

"I didn't actually steal them. I'm-" Stanley started.

"Innocent? Now that none of us believe, that's is the oldest story ever, especially for this place," Charlie said.

"Hey, I'm innocent too. But just of the conviction, I did do what they caught me doing, but it wasn't for the reason that they thought," I said putting in my two cents.

"Sure Twist," they all said.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

After "dinner" I made everyone a PB&J sandwich.

"Guys, we're almost out," I said while zipping up my bag.

"Just mail Sarah and ask for more supplies," Lewis said while stuffing the whole sandwich into his mouth.

"I couldn't. I've asked her to send so much already. I haven't heard from her in a while though, maybe I will write her," I said walking back over to sit down.

"So, Stanley are you ready for tomorrow?" Armpit asked not actually sounding interested.

"Why? Digging a hole doesn't sound that hard," Stanley said generally unconcerned.

"You'll see," Princess said.

"Okay campers time for bedy-bye," Mom sang walking past the tent.

"Okay, girls. Time to leave to go to 'bedy-bye'. Night losers," I said getting up.

"Night Queen of Losers," Squid said back.

"It's unhealthy to talk to yourself," I said walking out of the tent.

We went back to our tent and got into our cots.

"What do y'all think of Stanley?" Dutchess asked to nobody in particular.

"He's cool, kind of a nerd, but cool," TC answered back sleepily.

"Yeah, he's going to go through a lot of pain tomorrow," Hype said half consciously.

"He going to change this camp, I have a feeling," Stranger said barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, and I'm going to sprout a beak," I said, "Go to sleep, we have another long day tomorrow."

The next morning we all heard the painful thud of Squid flipping Stanley off the cot to wake him up. We, the girls, all got dressed in our lovely orange jumpsuits and walked over to grab the shovels.

"Hey, who gets the short shovel now X-Ray's gone?" Hype asked trying to wake up.

"Well, probably Squid, if he can get it from me," I answered running over to grab it.

"Why do you get it?" Hype asked.

"Think, I'm as short as the regular shovel. It is so hard to dig with something the same size as you. I get it because I need it," I told her.

We all sat down for breakfast, when the guys came over to wait to go to the site with us.

"So, Stanley; how do you like waking up at four o'clock in the morning," Dutchess asked him while watching his face of disgust at seeing 'breakfast.'

"Doesn't matter if I like or not. What is this?" He said still staring at 'breakfast.'

"Food substitute," TC said.

"Come on ye lazy girl scouts, this way to your site," Mr. Sir said while driving slowly past us in his crap truck.

When we got to our site we all heard the infamous 'If You Find Anything Interesting' speech with the infamous response 'What am I supposed to be looking for?'

We all watched as Stanley took his first butt plunge trying to crack the surface, and his second, and his third. He finally cracked the surface and started to dig. The sun had come up overhead and we were all a lot farther along in our holes than Stanley. We all started to get out of our holes.

"Where are you guys going?" Stanley asked probably thinking we were leaving.

"Mr. Sir's here with the water truck," Lewis said walking past.

Stanley got out of his hole after a couple of tries and tried to go stand with the guys.

"Sorry Stanley. End of the line, go behind Stranger," I said when he tried to cut me.

After Mr. Sir filled our canteens he looked at Stanley's numerous blisters and went over to look at his hole.

"Ye better start digging faster or ye're going to be digging in the hottest part of the day," he said walking back to his truck.

We all left, leaving Stanley to finish digging his hole by himself.

"I don't like him," Squid said.

"Why?" I asked shocked. I thought Stanley was sweet.

"He asks a lot of questions," he said.

"Like what?" I said sensing this wasn't the real reason.

"I can't think of anything at the moment, but you just wait he'll start asking you questions too," Squid said frustrated.

We were all showered and in the Wreck Room when Stanley came in exhausted. I watched as he tripped over The Lump's outstretched leg.

"Hey, watch it!" said The Lump.

"You watch it," Stanley muttered, obviously planning an early death.

"What'd you say?" The Lump demanded.

"Nothin'," said Stanley.

The Lump rose. He was almost as big as Stanley and a lot tougher. "You said something." He poked his fat finger in Stanley's neck. "What'd you say?"

We all rushed over to form a crowd around Stanley.

"Be cook," said Squid. He put his hand on Stanley's shoulder. "You don't want to mess with the Caveman," he warned.

"The Caveman's cool," said Armpit.

"I'm not looking for trouble," Stanley said obviously not getting he was Caveman.

Squid and Armpit led Caveman over to a couch. Lewis slid over to make room as Caveman sat down.

"Did you see the Caveman back there?" Squid asked.

"The Caveman's one tough dude," said Lewis, and he lightly punched Caveman's arm.

"C'mon, Caveman, dinner," said Hype.

"You coming, Caveman?" said Squid.

Caveman looked around to see that Hype and Squid were talking to him.

"I'm Caveman?" he asked me.

"Hey, it's better than Barfbag," I said, still disgusted that my brother allowed people to call him that.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

The next day was probably the hottest day of my stay at Camp Green Lake yet. I woke up and it was hotter inside my tent than it was outside. I dragged everyone else out of their slumber so we could get the day over with as soon as possible. I walked out of tent and barely made it to the Library to grab my shovel. I knew one thing at least, I wasn't as half as tired as Caveman. I remember my second day; I wanted to take something to numb all the pain.

"How are ya Caveman?" TC asked him walking over to where he was.

"Not that bad, I mean today won't be as bad as yesterday," he replied.

"If only that were true. You're already sore, it's going to be a lot harder today," TC said back.

I hadn't divulged my suspensions to Hype yet; but, I was pretty confident that Caveman liked TC. I see the way he looks at her. He's always smiling like an idiot, and trying to act cool. Actually, I have suspensions of everybody. I think Princess likes ZigZag; she is constantly trying to get his attention. We all know that Dutchess likes Magnet though, she won't shut up about how sexy he is when he speaks Spanish. The cutest crush that has developed in my mind is Zero and Stranger. They're both totally quiet and cute. Of course, though, the only relationship I should even be thinking about is mine and Squid's, I mean, he knows I like him. Or maybe he doesn't, he is after all male. But, if he doesn't do anything by the end of the week, I will have to take matters into my own hands. I was thinking about all of this when Squid himself pops up beside me while walking to the site.

"Hey Twist," he said. That's it. A measly 'Hey Twist.' I am going to go insane.

"Hey," I answered back. See how he likes it.

"What's been up lately?" he asked.

"Well, I've been getting up at early hours of the morning, digging holes that are cruel to get out of, eating food that is by definition rank, and I go to bed and start all over again. How about you? How do you like your new position in the tent?" I said.

"Same. It's cool, but I miss X," he said.

"Aw, is Squiddy getting sentimental on me," I said jokingly.

"No, I do not get sentimental," he said 'toughly' pushing me lightly.

"Never. You're a manly man. You laugh at emotions," I said pushing back.

"And don't you forget it," he said.

We walked in silence for a while.

"What do you think of Caveman and TC?" I asked putting my shovel into the spot where Mr. Sir told me to.

"What's there to think about?" he asked puzzled.

"Hello it is so obvious. He so totally like her," I said as though he was an idiot. Which he is.

"How can you tell? Do you observe people?" he said as though I were insane. Which I might be.

"Maybe I do. He smiles all the time when she's around and he is always trying to act cool," I said calmly.

"You really have nothing better to do, do you?" he asked.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed this desert doesn't really have anything entertaining. I make do with what I have," I said getting back to digging.

After a while, Mom came with the water truck and we all lined up. Caveman learned quickly that there was a certain order. We all got our canteens filled and went back to our holes. Everyone that is, but Caveman. He seemed to be spending a while longer talking to Mom. Now, no sane person starts a conversation with Mom; so, we all got up and went to go see what it was about.

"I found something," Caveman said, taking something out of his pocket.

Mom reached for Stanley's canteen, but Caveman handed him some kind of flat rock instead.

"What's this?" Mom asked.

"It's a fossil," said Caveman. "See the fish?"

Mom looked at it again.

"See, you can even see all of its little bones," said Caveman.

"Interesting," said Mom. "Let me have you canteen."

Caveman handed it to him. Mom filled it, then returned it.

"So do I get the rest of the day off?" Caveman asked.

"What for?" Mom asked back surprised.

"You know, you said if I found something interesting, the Warden would give me the day off."

Mom laughed as he gave the fossil back to Caveman. "Sorry, Stanley. The Warden isn't interested in fossils."

"Let me see that," said Magnet, taking the rock from Caveman.

Caveman continued to stared at Mom.

"Hey, Zig, dig this rock."

"Cool," said Ziggy.

Caveman watched all of us pass the fossil around.

"I don't see nothing," said Squid.

"See, look at the little fishy," said Armpit.

We all rolled our eyes and went back to digging, leaving a discouraged Caveman. We watched as Caveman walked slowly back to his hole. Squid suddenly went over to Caveman's hole, and started talking to him. After a while, he came back to dig his hole.

"What was that about?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he answered.

"It didn't look like nothing. I thought you didn't like Caveman," I told him.

"Just drop it, Twist," he said starting to sound annoyed.

"Fine," I said starting to get pissed off.

Again, we all left Caveman to be the last one digging. We all showered and headed towards the guys tent to relax. Sadly, Mom was there. I had forgotten that today was 'Group Day.' We just got settled when Caveman came in.

"Welcome, Stanley," said Mom.

"Hey, Caveman. You get your hole dug?" TC asked.

Caveman nodded.

"You spit in it?" Squid asked.

He nodded again. "You're right," he said to TC. "Today was a lot harder than yesterday."

TC shook her head. "The third hole's the hardest," she said.

"Come join our circle," said Mom.

Caveman sat down between Squid and Magnet.

"We're going to discuss what we want to do with our lives," said Mom. "We're not going to be at Camp Green Lake forever. We need to prepare for the day we leave here and join the rest of society."

"Hey, that's great, Mom!" said Hype. "They're going to finally let you out of here?"

We all laughed.

"Okay, Victoria. Have your laugh," said Mom. "We are going to start with Jose tonight. What do you want to do with you life?"

"I don't know," said Magnet.

"You need to think about that," said Mom. "It's important to have goals. Otherwise you're going to end up right back in jail. What do you like to do?"

"I don't know," said Magnet.

"You must like something," said Mom.

"I like animals," said Magnet. Gosh, like we didn't know that already.

"Good," said Mom. "Does anyone know of any jobs that involve animals?"

"Veterinarian," said Stranger in her usual barely above whisper talk.

"That's right," said Mom.

"He could work in a zoo," said ZigZag.

"He belongs in the zoo," said Squid.

"How about you, Stanley? Any ideas for Jose?"

Caveman sighed. "Animal trainer," he finally said. "Like for the circus, or movies, or something like that."

"Any of those jobs sound good to you, Jose?" asked Mom.

"Yeah, I like what Caveman said. About training animals for movies. I think it would be fun to train monkeys."

Squid laughed.

"Don't laugh, Alan," said Mom. "We don't laugh at peoples dreams. Someone is going to have to train monkeys for the movies."

"Who are you kidding, Mom?" asked Squid. "Magnet's never going to be a monkey trainer."

I looked at him as though he were a nightmare. I had never seen Squid so discouraging.

"You don't know that," I said. "Magnet can do what ever he wants. He can accomplish anything if he sets his mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it."

"Twist, you don't know anything about life. And stop protecting people, you aren't going to be a peace maker," Squid said coldly.

"So far you've all done a pretty good job at messing up your lives," said Mom loudly, trying to stop a huge argument that was going to happen anyways. "I know you think you're cool." He looked at Caveman. "So, you're Caveman, now, huh? You like digging holes, Caveman?"

Caveman just looked at Mom.

"Well, let me tell you something, Caveman. You are here on account of one person. If it wasn't for that person, you wouldn't be here digging holes in the hot sun. you know who that person its?"

"My no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather."

We all howled with laughter. Even Zero and Stranger smiled. It was the first time anyone us had ever seen Stranger smile. She usually had such an angry expression on her face.

"No, said Mom. "That person is you, Stanley. You're that reason you are here. You're responsible for yourself. You messed up your life, and it's up to you to fix it. No one else is going to do it for you-for any of you."

Mom looked at each person. "You're al special in you own way," he said. "You've all got something to offer. You have to think about what you want to do, then do it. Ever you, Zero. You're not completely worthless."

The smile was now gone from Zero's face. I noticed Stranger looked even more angry than usual.

"What do you want to do with your life?" Mom asked him.

Zero's mouth was shut tight. As he glared at Mom, his dark eyes seems to expand.

"What about it, Zero?" asked Mom. "What do you like to do?"

"I like to dig holes."

Everything after that was all stupid, and Mom left.

"Come on, girls. Let's go to bed," I said getting up.

"Why are you always bossing them around? Don't you think they can function without your instructions?" Squid asked standing up to.

"Of course they can function without me. Besides, you boss the guys around too, so stop being hypocritical," I said getting mad. I didn't want to get into a fight with Squid. But ever since this afternoon after he snapped at me, he seems like he wants to pick a fight with me. I just walked out of the tent heading to mine.

"So, I've been here the longest now that X has left. I'm the leader of D-Tent now, and that means the girls portion of it too. So, stop acting like you're in charge of them!" Squid said running after me.

"NO! And stop yelling at me. I don't know what crawled up your ass lately, but please remove it as quickly as possible," I yelled back turning around.

"You are so annoying! You think you know the solution to everything, but you don't! You don't now what has gone on in my life to make me like this, if you hadn't noticed I've been like this the whole time!"

"No you have not. You used to be nice and sweet. Now, you're putting everyone down, just so they feel as shitty as you do. And no, I don't know what made you like this because you don't talk about anything in your personal life! Now, JUST GO AWAY!" I said running into my tent. I was waiting for him to come in after me to start yelling again, but he never did. I just cried myself to sleep wondering what was wrong with him.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

I woke up the next morning hoping that last night was this horrible nightmare. No such luck. I sat up and looked at my roommates. Did they think I boss them around a lot too? But, if they did, wouldn't they tell me to stop? I wouldn't get mad. Maybe. I started to go through my things to get ready for the day, I guess they heard me.

"Hey, Twist. What happened between you and Squid last night?" Dutchess asked me.

I didn't answer.

"Twist? You know that we don't care that you boss us around a little bit. If we cared, TC would beat you up," Princess said seeing that I was a little depressed.

"Trust her, I would so beat you up," TC said with a smile trying to cheer me up.

"Listen, Twist. You're a smart girl, so I'm going to give you a very simple equation. You – Squid very happy future. You don't need him. You saw how he treated Magnet, like he was nothing. We thought they were all best friends, and he just down played them. He might do the same thing to you, you never know. Get over him," Hype said forcefully.

"I can't! He makes me so mad, yet I want him to make me mad. But, last night wasn't just an argument. It made me realize, maybe he really is like that. And he doesn't trust me enough to let me know why! I just…don't know," I said walking out of the tent to the Library. I walked all the way there, to the Mess Hall, and to the site in silence. I just couldn't talk to anybody, and I didn't talk to anybody.

"What you got there, Caveman?" asked ZigZag.

Caveman closed his hand around whatever he was holding. "Nothing, just, uh… I think I might have found something."

"Another fossil?"

"No, I'm not sure what it is."

"Let me see," said ZigZag.

Instead of showing it to ZigZag, Caveman gave it to Squid for some reason. ZigZag followed him. Squid looked at the tube for a long time. One by one, everyone but me dropped their shovels and went to look at it.

"It looks like an old shotgun shell," Magnet said.

"Yeah, that's probably what it is," said Caveman.

"No, it's too long and thin to be a shotgun shell," said Squid still trying to figure it out.

"Hey what's that engraved into the side?" Princess said snatching it away from Squid. "It says KB, with a heart around it."

"Yeah, that stands for Keith Barenger," ZigZag said snatching it away from Princess.

"Who?" Magnet asked.

"He as in my math class," ZigZag said as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, so it must belong to him, huh ZigZag," Magnet said sarcastically.

I got up, finally curious enough to see what it was. I walked over snatched it from ZigZag and said, "It's an empty tube of lipstick." I threw it at Squid head and walked back to my hole.

"Well, I'll show it to Mom," said Squid. "See what he thinks. Who knows? Maybe I'll get the day off."

"Your hole's almost finished," said Caveman. He obviously was still planning that early death.

"Yeah, so?" Squid said turning back around to face Caveman.

Caveman raised and lowered his shoulder. "So, why don't you wait until tomorrow to show it to Mom?" he wisely suggested. "You can pretend you found it first thing in the morning. Then you can get the whole day off, instead of just an hour or so this afternoon."

Squid smiled. "Good thinking, Caveman." He dropped the tube into his large pocket on the side of his dirty orange pants.

Caveman returned to his hole. When the water truck came, Caveman started to take his place at the end of the line, but Squid told him to get behind Hype, in front of Stranger. When I got my water I passed Squid.

"You're an asshole. You do know that don't you?" I asked with more attitude than I thought I had.

"And why is that?" Squid said generally uninterested.

"We all know Caveman found that fair and square. He deserves the day off not you. I don't see why I shouldn't tell Mom tomorrow that Caveman found it not you," I said harshly.

This caught Squid's attention. "Because if you do, I'll make your life a living hell. You won't be able to sleep, eat, or walk without thinking of what I could be planning next."

"Like I don't already," I said walking off back to my hole.

The next morning, I was walking to the Library when I overheard Caveman and Squid.

"You got it?" he asked Squid.

Squid looked at him with half-opened eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," he grumbled.

"You know…" said Caveman.

"No, I don't know!" Squid snapped. "So just leave me alone, okay? I don't want to talk to you."

Squid was a really good actor, so good in fact it seemed he actually tricked Caveman into thinking he had forgotten. I decided to go over and set him straight.

"He knows. He just doesn't want Mr. Sir, Mom, or worse the Warden to find out what y'all did yesterday. Just eat breakfast and act normal," I said passing by Caveman, not looking at him once.

Mr. Sir marched us out to the lake, chewing sun-flower seeds along the way and spitting out the shells. He scraped the ground with his boot heel, to maker where each of us was supposed to dig.

The water truck came a little after sunrise. The truck stopped, and the dust cloud drifted past it. Squid took his place at the front of the line Mom filled his canteen. "Thanks, Mom," Squid said. He didn't even mention the tube.

Mom filled all the canteens, and then climbed back into the cab of the pickup. He still had to bring water to Group E. I could see them digging about two hundred yards away.

"Mom!" Squid shouted from his hole. He was starting his big acting career. "Wait! Mom! I think I might have found something!"

Everyone but me followed Mom as he walked over to Squid's hole. Mom examined the tube and took a long look at its flat bottom. "I think the Warden is going to like this."

"Does Squid get the day off?" I yelled over.

"Just keep digging until someone say otherwise," Mom said. Then he smiled. "But if I were you, Alan, I wouldn't dig too hard." Then he left and headed towards the Warden's cabin.

"Are you trying to get me busted?" Squid hissed coming over.

"Oh, am I that obvious?" I said sarcastically. "You might want go back to your hole, there almost back."

It didn't take long for the pickup to pull up. Mom stepped out of the driver's side. A tall woman with red hair stepped out of the passenger side. She looked even taller than she was, since we were all down in our holes. She wore a black cowboy hat and black cowboy boots which were studded with turquoise stones. The sleeves on her shirt were rolled up, and her arms were covered with freckles, as was her face. She walked right up to Squid.

"This where you found it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said in his stupid twang.

"Your good work will be rewarded." She turned to Mom. "Drive Squid back to camp. Let him take a double shower, and give him some clean clothes. But first I want you to fill everyone's canteen."

"I just filled them a little while ago," said Mom.

The Warden stared hard at him. "Excuse me," she said. She was using that soft voice that I had first heard when we met.

"I had just filled them when Alan—"

"Excuse me," the Warden said again. "Did I ask you when you last filled them?"

"No, but it's just—"

"Excuse me."

Mom stopped talking. The Warden wiggled her finger for him to come to her. "It's hot and it's only going to get hotter," she said. "Now, these fine boys have been working hard. Don't you think it might be possible that they might have taken a drink since you last filled their canteens?"

"It's possible," Mom said.

The Warden turned to Caveman. "Caveman, will you come here, please?"

Caveman looked surprised that she knew his name. He nervously went towards her.

"Mr. Pendanski and I have been having a discussion. Have you taken a drink since Mr. Pendanski last filled you canteen?"

"I've still got plenty left," Caveman said.

"Excuse me."

"Yeah, I drank some," he said after a last hesitation.

"Thank you. May I see your canteen please?"

Caveman handed it to her. She gently shook the canteen, letting the water swish inside the plastic container. "Do you hear the empty spaces?" she asked.

"Yes," said Mom.

"The fill it," she said pushing it into Mom's arms. "And the next time I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it without questioning my authority. If it's too much trouble for you to fill a canteen, I'll give you a shovel. You can dig the hole, and the Caveman can fill your canteen." She turned back to Caveman. "I don't think to would be too much trouble for you, would it?"

"No," said Caveman.

"So what will it be?" she asked Mom. "Do you want to fill the canteens or do you want to dig?"

"I'll fill the canteens," said Mom.

"Thank you."

Mom started to refill the canteens; and the Warden got a pitchfork out of the back of the truck. She poked it through Squid dirt pile, to see if anything else might have been buried in there as well.

"After you drop off Squid, I want you to bring back three wheelbarrows," she said.

Squid got in the pickup. As the truck pulled away, he leaned out the wide window and gave a smart ass wave to me. I just glared after him.

"Zero," said the Warden. "I want you to take over Squid's hole, Stranger will help you. ZigZag and Princess will work in ZigZag's hole. Barfbag and Twist will work together. Dutchess, TC, and Hype will work the wheelbarrows while Armpit, Magnet, and Caveman dig to combine the holes. We're going to dig the dirt twice. We don't want to miss anything. If either of you find something, you'll both get the rest of the day off, and a double shower.

"When the wheelbarrows are full, you are to dump them away from this area. We don't want any dirt piles to get in the way."

The Warden decided to watch us the remainder of the day. I had to admit it was easier than digging my own hole, but I wish I was back in my circle of solitude. At least there, I didn't feel like I need to make conversation.

"So, Emma, what's up with you and Squid?" Lewis asked me.

"Absolutely nothing. He is forever dead to me. I want to die wriggly in pain while we're all here digging, so nobody can do anything to help him," I said coldly.

"I take it things aren't well then?" he jokingly said.

"Shut up," I said trying not to smile.

We dug until each hole was well over six feet deep and wide. Which was just the cherry on top of a great day.

"Lewis, help me out," I said.

"No, you're a big girl who can figure things out for herself," he said trying to get out himself.

"Lewis Micheal Robinson! You help me out of this hole right this minute," I yelled up at him.

"No, but I will go get someone else to help you out. Be right back," Lewis yelled walking away.

I sat down in the bottom of the hole thinking about things, when I heard Lewis's voice.

"Yeah, she fainted. She's in the bottom of that hole," he said.

"Where? Which one?" I heard the to unwelcome voice of Squid ask.

"This one," Lewis said. And the next thing I new, Squid came crashing down on me.

"Lewis, this isn't funny! Help me out!" I yelled ignoring Squid.

"Barfbag! I thought you said she was unconscious?" Squid yelled above my cursing.

"Oops…I lied. Well, since you to a stuck down there, I'll just sit here until you two talk," Lewis said sitting on the edge of the hole.

"There's nothing to talk about. He's a jerk that is broken beyond repair," I said looking at Squid.

"For once, I agree with you. I would rather do anything than talk to Twist about how ungrateful she is," Squid said looking at me.

"Ungrateful? _Ungrateful?_ How the hell am I ungrateful?" I asked in shock.

"You came here and every single guy outside of D-Tent was talking about how much they want to get into your pants, and how much they would do to reach that goal. I made sure they never even got near you! And you don't even realize how much danger you're in because of it," Squid said.

"What? You don't think I realize how much danger I'm in. I'm in a male majority populated facility and have a very high chance of getting raped. I know I'm in danger. And thank you for keeping them away, but I never asked you to. So, don't except me to kneel down before you, when nothing has even happened yet! Lewis get me out of this damn hole before I hurt someone!" I yelled.

"Ha! If I let you out of this hole now, you'll kill me!" he said laughing.

"Damn straight!"

"Why don't you just ask Squid to give you a boost?" he smirked.

"Because I don't want him touching me," I said.

"Oh, I seem to recall when you were tackling me to ground," Squid said in a stupid know it all way.

"Yeah, that's before you turned into an ass!"

"When did you tackle him?" Lewis interrupted.

"After you sent that stupid letter! So, it's your own fault really," I said slyly up to him. "And it's your fault that he knew I had any remote feelings for him anyways! Maybe, that's why he got a big head and we are having this argument. It is your entire fault!"

"Stop turning the blame on me, I didn't do anything that made you have feelings for him. So, it's your entire fault really," he said mocking me.

"Ah, Squid. Give me a boost," I said turning around.

"No. Hey, wait a minute. I can get my self out of this hole," he said lifting himself up.

"I hate you both!" I screamed up at them.

"Well, Squid we won't get any sleep if we leave her down there. So, help me get her up," Lewis said as though it was some big hassle.

They both reached down and grabbed one hand each and pulled me up. I really thought about slapping them. But, I just walked away, took my showers, and went to the Mess Hall for dinner.

The Warden came in and talked to us. "All right, today was a good day boys…and ladies. Tomorrow, we all do it again!" Then she went back out.

"I wonder how she knew all our names," Caveman said as he walked back to the compound.

"She watches us all the time," said ZigZag. "She's got hidden microphones and cameras all over the place. In the tents, the Wreck Room…"

"The shower," Squid said obviously gesturing to something.

"Squid, he said microphones, not microscopes," I said smirking while getting up and going back to my tent.

I had my doubts about those supposed microphones and cameras. I didn't think they could make cameras that small. Microphones, maybe. I realized why Squid didn't want to talk to Caveman about eh tube at breakfast. Squid was afraid the Warden might have been listening. Too bad she wasn't.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

For the next week and a half, we continued to dig in and around the area where Squid had "found" the gold tube. We widened Squid's hole, as well as the holes Armpit and Lewis had been digging. As the days wore on, I could tell the Warden became less and less patient. She arrived later in the morning and left earlier in the afternoon. Meanwhile, she kept making us dig later and later into the day.

"This is no bigger than it was when I left you yesterday," she said after arriving late one morning, well after sunrise. "What have you been doing down there?"

"Nothing," said Lewis.

My idiot brother had just said the thing that would bring doom upon us all. At that moment, Armpit was returning from a bathroom break.

"How nice of you to join us," she said. "And what have you been doing?"

"I had to…you know…go."

The Warden jabbed at Armpit with her pitchfork, knocking him backward into the big hole. The pitchfork left three holes in the front of his shirt, and three thing spots of blood.

"You're giving these kids too much water," the Warden told Mom.

We continued to dig until late in the afternoon. Long after all the other groups had finished for the day. The guys were all down in the big hole, and us girls were moving the wheelbarrows. As Caveman was raising his shovel to put it in my wheelbarrow ZigZag's shovel hit him in the side of the head. He collapsed.

ZigZag looked over Caveman and when he opened his eyes he said, "I ain't digging that dirt up. That's your dirt."

"Hey, Mom!" TC called out. "Caveman's been hurt."

Magnet helped Caveman to his feet, then up and out of the hole. Mr. Sir made a bandage out of a piece of his sack of sunflower seeds and taped it over Caveman's wound. Then he told him to get back to work. "It isn't nap time."

When Caveman returned to the hole, ZigZag told him, "That's your dirt. You have to dig it up. It's covering up my dirt."

It took Caveman a moment to realize what he was talking about, but in the end, he scooped up his dirt and put it in my wheelbarrow. The rest of our digging day was rather pointless. We all went back to the camping ground to take our showers and headed to the Wreck Room to relax.

"Stanley," Mom said coming in with a stack of letters.

"My name's Caveman," said Caveman.

"Well, I have a letter here for someone named Stanley Yelnats," said Mom. He turned over an envelope in his hands. "It doesn't say Caveman anywhere."

"Come on, Mom, give me my letter," said Caveman.

"Sorry, I can't give mail to someone who isn't the addressee," Mom said holding the letter above his head.

"Uh, thanks," Caveman said taking the letter out of Mom's hand. It was actually pretty funny.

"Who's it from?" Squid asked. "Your _mother_?"

Caveman put it in the big pocket of his pants.

"Aren't you going to read it to us?" asked Squid.

"Leave him alone," I said. "if Caveman doesn't want to read it to us, he doesn't have to. It's probably from one of his friends."

Caveman smiled in gratitude towards me; and Squid glared.

I didn't bother with going to dinner, I just went to the tent and made myself a sandwich. I fell asleep before the other girls came in. I woke up around midnight and found myself having to go to the bathroom really badly. I got up and walked outside to the bathrooms and did my business. But on the way back, I heard a funny noise. It was coming from the guy's tent. I walked over and found Squid sitting on the steps.

"Squid?" I asked timidly.

He looked up at the sound of my voice, I saw that he was crying.

"Are you okay?" I asked again coming over to sit on the steps.

He sniffed and caught his breath. "Yeah, I just…I'm fine," he whispered, and sniffed again.

"Squid, I may not have lived that long, but I know that 'I'm fine' means 'I'm not fine.' What's wrong?"

"Like you would understand, or even care," he said coldly.

"Squid, I know we haven't been seeing eye to eye on things the past couple of days, but I think I should have taken in what you had to say. And if you tell me what's wrong, I take everything hurtful I've ever said about you back: to your face and behind your back," I said to him as seriously as I could. "And I don't do that for just anybody."

"Okay, but if you laugh or tell me to suck it up, I will not hesitate on hitting you."

"I promise. Now, let's go walk, and you can tell me."

"Okay, when I was little I had a good life, my mom and dad loved me. But then something happened and my dad just left. Literally got up in the middle of the night and left. I never heard from him again. For awhile, everything was fine at home, but then my mom started drinking. At first it was just a glass of wine or a beer, then it started to be a whole bottle of wine and a six pack. First, she just drank and fell asleep on the couch and I cleaned up and went to bed; then, she started to get agitated over the smallest thing, like a broken plate or an overflowing garbage can. When she got really mad, she started to beat me," Squid was explaining all of this to me and he was starting to cry again. I held his hand to comfort him, so he could continue. "After a while, she lost her job, we lost the house, everything was falling apart. Most of the time, we didn't have any food. So, I started stealing food. It was just a loaf of bread or a box of cereal, nothing big. But, my mom was always yelling at me to buy her more alcohol, so I had to learn how to shoplift bottles too. That's how I ended up here. My mom was beating me because we didn't have anymore whiskey, and I was breaking into the grocery store was the police showed up."

I felt like crying, and I did. I couldn't imagine my parents hurting me. Sure they hardly knew I existed until the police were calling them telling them their daughter had been arrested. But, they would never ever hurt me physically. I didn't really know what to say to Squid to tell him I was sorry about his past. The only thing I could think to do at that moment was to kiss him, so I did. I think I surprised him at first, but when I pulled away he just smiled.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"That was an apology for everything. I know I'm always calling you an idiot or stupid or-"

"I get it, you're always making fun of me."

"Yeah, but I really do like you."

"Yeah, I really like me too."

"Squid."

"No, I really like you too."

We walked back to the camp site in silence. He walked me to my tent and gave me a kiss good night. I walked back in to find Stranger up.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"The bathroom."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

I woke up the next morning to find Stranger, Hype, TC, Princess, and Dutchess looking at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked a little freaked out.

"Where did you go last night? You woke me up when you left and then you didn't come back for an hour. And Stranger said you were in the bathroom. Nobody takes that long in the bathroom," Princess said.

"I went to the bathroom; and, I can take as long as I want," I said getting dressed.

"Liar," Hype said. "You were walking around with someone. Who was it?"

"Okay. But, don't make a big deal about it. But, last night, Squid and I went on a walk after I went to the bathroom. We made up and…"

"And? And what?" Dutchess asked impatiently.

"I kissed him."

There was a chorus of 'aw' through out the tent.

"Girls, don't say anything when we're with the guys, okay? I don't think Lewis should find out about this from anyone besides me or Squid. Mainly me. I think he might flip if you guys told him," I said seriously.

"Don't worry, we won't," TC said.

We all walked out of the tent and headed for the Library. Just as I was about to get my shovel, one was pushed into my hands. I looked up and saw Squid.

"Thanks," I said. "Hey, you even picked the shorter one!"

"Yep, and you're welcome," he said taking my hand and walking towards the Mess Hall.

When we got to the table, Squid went off to get breakfast for the both of us. The guys looked at me, and they didn't stop.

"What?" I asked.

"What's up with you and Squid? You are acting friendly again, you couldn't have just gotten over everything in a night," Lewis said looking at me intently.

"Well, we did. So get over it," I said sitting down.

"Liar. What happened?"

"Well, Squid and I talked last night."

"About what?"

"Stuff, just drop it."

Squid came back and sat down beside me. The guys turned their attention towards them.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Magnet said. "Just you two aren't arguing over anything and it's weird."

"Well, get over it."

"No, I want to know what happened between you and my little sister."

"Lewis, you are only two minutes older," I said getting very annoyed with him. "And, why are you complaining, you are the one who wanted us to make up, so stop talking about it."

"But-"

I gave him the Stop-Talking-Or-Get-Punched-In-The-Face face; he seemed to get that he need to stop while he was ahead. We all finished our breakfast and headed towards the digging site. I was walking with Squid in silence and it was driving me mad.

"So, I guess you hadn't told the guys what happened?" I said trying to get a conversation started.

"No. Did you tell the girls?" he asked looking down at me.

"Well…"

"You did, didn't you?"

"Yes, but nothing about what you told me. They just were wondering why I was gone, and I am a horrible liar."

"Then I should tell the guys. We don't want divided knowledge between the girls and the guys."

"Well, you can tell the guys, but…"

"But…?"

"Can I tell Lewis? I think he would take it better if it came from me. He might hurt you if you told him. My first boyfriend was the one who told him, and he had a black eye for a month."

"For the risk of my safety, I give you permission to tell him."

"Thanks."

"Okay ye can start digging here," Mr. Sir said to me scoffing the dirt with his boot heel.

I rammed my shovel into the ground and successfully broke the dry surface and started my daily process. After a while, I looked up and took a drink from my canteen. I paused and looked around. I wondered why of all places to hold a detention center, this is the place someone would hold it. And why do we dig holes? It's not like it's teaching me a lesson, it just gives me a tan and defined muscles. Which I like. I finally brought myself out of my thoughts and went back to digging. Time must fly by when you just concentrate on doing one thing because the next thing I knew Mr. Sir was here filling up canteens. I went to my place in line and waited. I watched the truck pull away.

I went back in my hole, shovel in hand, when I heard Magnet call out. "Anybody want some sunflower seeds?"

Magnet was standing at ground level, holding a sack of seeds. He popped a handful into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, shells and all.

"Over here," called Squid.

The sack looked to be about half full. Magnet rolled up the top, then tossed it to Squid.

"How'd you get them without Mr. Sir seeing you?" asked Dutchess.

"I can't help it," Magnet said. He held both hands up, wiggled his fingers, and laughed. "My fingers are like little magnets."

The sack went from Squid to TC to Princess.

"It's sure good to eat something that doesn't come from a can," said TC.

Princess tossed the sack to ZigZag.

"Coming your way, Caveman," said ZigZag. "Airmail and special delivery…"

I didn't see if the seeds spilled before they got to Caveman or after he dropped the bag.

"Oh, man!" said Magnet.

"Caveman you've got butterfingers!" ZigZag yelled.

"The truck's coming!" I shouted.

We all looked up at the approaching dust cloud, then back down at the spilled seeds. We watched as Caveman dug his shovel into his hole, and tried turning over the dirt to bury the seeds.

"Hello, Mr. Sir," said Hype. "Back so soon?"

"It seems like you were just here," I yelled.

"Time flies when you're having fun," said Lewis.

I watched Caveman turn the dirt over in his hole.

"You Girl Scours having a good time?" asked Mr. Sir. He moved from one hole to another. He kicked a dirt pile by Magnet's hole, then he moved toward Caveman.

"Well, what do you know, Caveman?" said Mr. Sir. "It looks like you found something. Dig it out. We'll take it to the Warden. Maybe she'll give you the rest of the day off."

"It's not anything," Caveman said.

"Let me be the judge of that," said Mr. Sir.

I watched Caveman reach down and pull up the empty burlap sack. He tried to hand it to Mr. Sir, but he wouldn't take it.

"So, tell me, Caveman," said Mr. Sir. "How did my sack of sunflower seeds get in your hole?"

"I stole it from your truck," Caveman lied.

"You did?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir."

"What happened to all the sunflower seeds?"

"I ate them."

"By yourself."

"Yes, Mr. Sir."

"Hey, Caveman!" shouted Armpit. "How come you didn't share any with us?"

"That's cold, man," said Squid.

"I thought you were our friend," said Magnet.

Mr. Sir looked from Armpit to Squid to Magnet, then back to Caveman. "We'll see what the Warden has to say about this. Let's go."

I had no idea what the guys were doing, but I really wanted to. Why were they putting all the blame on Caveman? Mr. Sir was taking Caveman to the Warden, he was a dead man walking. Caveman climbed up out of his hole and followed Mr. Sir to the truck. He still was holding the empty sack.

"I wonder what's going to happen to him," I said.

"He better be wondering what's going to happen to him if he squeals," Armpit said.

Zero got out of his hole, and instead he started to dig Caveman's hole. We all watched him. Why was he doing that? He hadn't even finished his own hole. Zero kept digging until he finished Caveman's hole. Then he silently went back to digging his own hole. I was almost finished with mine when Caveman came back.

"Hey, Caveman!" called Armpit. "You're still alive."

"What'd the Warden say?" asked Squid.

"What'd you tell her?" asked Magnet.

"I told her I stole the seeds," said Caveman.

"Good going," said Magnet.

"What'd she do?" I asked him.

Caveman shrugged one shoulder. "Nothing. She got mad at Mr. Sir for bothering her."

We watched him as he went to his hole. He stared at it.

"Hey, thanks," he said.

"Don't look at me," said Squid. "Zero dug it."

Caveman looked at all of us until he got to Zero.

"Hey, Zero, why'd you dig my hole?"

"You didn't steal the sunflower seeds."

"So? Neither did you."

"You didn't steal the shoes."

After that, all I heard was whispering.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

I was finishing my hole just as Lewis spat into his. I glanced at Squid, and he glanced at me and gave me a small nod.

"Hey, Lew! Hold up, I want to talk to you," I said pushing myself out of my hole.

Lewis stopped, and I ran up to him. We started to walk back to the camp site.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Lewis asked me.

"Yeah," I answered. I wasn't sure how to tell him.

"About…?"

"You might not like what I have to say though," I said worried.

"Emma, I'm a big boy. What is it?"

"Um…Squid and…I…were talking last night. And…"

"And…? Emma whatever you have to say won't be that bad. It's not like you are trying to tell me you and Squid got together, right?"

I didn't say anything. I just looked around.

"You did, didn't you?! Emma!"

"Well, he's-"

"Do _not _tell me he's sweet or funny. He's a criminal."

"Guess what! So am I. And you, and everybody else here!"

"But Emma-"

"Don't you 'But Emma' me! I'm a big girl Lewis, so you know what! Stop trying to tell me what to do. I just thought I would let you know because you are my brother," I said stomping off to my tent. "Ah! He is so aggravating!"

"Who?" Hype asked.

"My no-good-worthless-idiot brother! I think of all people he would be the one who wanted me to be happy, but no! As soon as I told him about Squid, he flipped out! Ah! I want to rip the eye balls right out of his head, stick them up his butt, so he can see how much of an asshole he really is!"

"Dang, you really are mad," Hype said looking at me.

"You got that right!"

I cooled off by dinner time, but I was still mad. I was walking through the dinner line with Squid, talking about what had happened with Lewis when we looked at Mr. Sir. He had three purplish-red scars down the left side of his face.

"Hey, what happened to your face?" Squid asked him. Good God, how stupid was he?

Mr. Sir grabbed him by his jumpsuit and slowly said, "Is there something wrong with my face?"

"N-no Mr. Sir," Squid stuttered.

Mr. Sir pushed him into the table, so Squid hit his head. I rushed over to help him up.

"Does anyone see anything wrong with my face?" asked Mr. Sir. "How does my face look to you now? I'm kind of handsome, don't you think?"

"Yes, Mr. Sir," everybody said through out the Mess Hall.

Mr. Sir went to the kitchen and we all heard pots and pans being thrown around.

"Hey, are you okay?" I said turning my attention towards Squid.

"Yeah, I'm cool," Squid said standing up.

We walked over to the table together. Lewis was glaring at Squid. I was so sick of him. I just went back to my tent and went to sleep.

Out on the lake the next day, we all were asking Caveman what he knew about Mr. Sir's face, but he just shrugged and dug his hole. I bet he just wanted to get away from Mr. Sir as soon as possible. The first time the water truck came, it was driven by Mom. The second time, Mr. Sir was driving.

No one said anything except "Thank you, Mr. Sir" as he filled each canteen. No one even dared to look at his grotesque face.

As I waited, I ran my tongue over the roof of my mouth and inside my cheeks. My mouth was as dry and as parched as the lake.

"Thank you, Mr. Sir," said Hype, as she took her canteen from him.

"You thirsty, Caveman?" Mr. Sir asked

"Yes, Mr. Sir," Caveman said, handing his canteen to him.

I watched as Mr. Sir opened the nozzle, and water flowed out of the tank, but it didn't go into Caveman's canteen. Instead, he held the canteen right next to the stream of water. The dry ground quickly absorbed the water.

Mr. Sir let the water run for about thirty seconds, then stopped. "You want more?" he asked.

Caveman wisely didn't say anything.

Mr. Sir turned the water back on, and again we all watched it pour onto the dirt.

"There, that should be plenty," he handed Caveman his empty canteen.

"Thank you, Mr. Sir," he said.

Three days had passed since Mr. Sir had received the scratch marks down his face. Every time Mr. Sir delivered water, he poured Caveman's straight onto the ground. Fortunately for Caveman, Mom delivered the water more often than Mr. Sir. I knew Mom was aware of what Mr. Sir was doing, because he always gave Caveman a little extra. He'd fill Caveman's canteen, then let Caveman take a long drink, then top it off for him. That didn't really bother anybody, but what did was Zero had started digging part of Caveman's hole. When he tried pointing out that he was the one who took the blame for the sunflower seeds; we told him it was his own fault because he spilled them. Magnet even told him, "I risked my life for those seeds, and all I got was one lousy handful." It might seem like we were being too hard on him, but we didn't have someone who dug half our hole everyday. Caveman even tried to tell us that he needed to save his energy because he was teaching Zero how to read. Yeah, like we believe that.

"Same old story, ain't it, Magnet?" Armpit said one day. "The white boy sits around while the boy with a little color in his skin does all the work. Ain't that right, Caveman?"

"No, that's not right," Caveman said.

"No, it ain't," Armpit agreed. "It ain't right at all."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

The next day was ZigZag's birthday. Or so he said. Squid told me ZigZag was in the bed and told them, "I get to sleep in, because it's my birthday."

Then a little while later he cut into the breakfast line, just in front of Squid. Squid told him to go to the end of the line. "Hey, it's my birthday," ZigZag said, staying where he was.

"It's not your birthday," Princess said from behind me.

"Is too," said ZigZag. "July 8."

"How do you know that?" I asked him.

"I just do," he said.

"Can I have an extra carton of juice?" ZigZag asked Mr. Sir. "It's my birthday."

To everyone's surprise, Mr. Sir gave it to him.

We had been digging for five hours. Right before the lunch truck came Zero got into Caveman's hole, and Caveman got out.

"Hey, Caveman," said ZigZag. "You should get a whip. Then if your slave doesn't dig fast enough, you can crack it across his back."

"He's not my slave," said Caveman. "We have a deal, that's all."

"A good deal for you," said ZigZag.

"It was Zero's idea, not mine."

"Don't you know, Zig?" said Squid, coming over. "Caveman's doing Zero a big favor. Zero likes to dig holes."

"He sure is a nice guy to let Zero dig his hole for him," said Armpit.

"Well, what about me?" asked Magnet. "I like to dig holes, too. Can I dig for you, Caveman, after Zero's finished?"

We all laughed, except TC.

"No, I want to," said ZigZag. "It's my birthday. Come on, Caveman. Be a pal. Let me dig your hole."

Caveman smiled, as if it were all a big joke. When Mom finally came with water and lunch, ZigZag offered Caveman his place in line. "Since you're so much better than me."

Caveman remained where he was. "I didn't say I was bet-"

"You're insulting him, Zig," said Squid. "Why should Caveman take your place, when he deserves to be at he very front? He's better than all of us. Aren't you, Caveman?"

"No," said Caveman.

"Sure you are," said Squid. "Get up here."

Caveman surprised me when he actually walked to the front of the line. Did he really think he was better than all of us? If he did, he has another thing coming.

"Well, this is a first," Mom said, coming around the side of the truck. He filled Caveman's canteen and handed him a sack lunch. Caveman sat down between his own hole and Zero's. ZigZag and Squid started walking toward him.

"I'll give you my cookie if you let me dig your hole," said ZigZag.

Squid laughed. I thought that they were now taking it a little too far. I mean, nobody liked that fact that Zero was doing what he was doing, but he would stop if he didn't want to do it. I think that Squid and ZigZag should stop before something really bad happens.

"Here, take my cookie," said ZigZag, sticking it in his face.

"Leave me alone," said Caveman.

"Please eat my cookie," said ZigZag, holding it under Caveman's nose.

Squid laughed again.

Stanley pushed it away.

ZigZag pushed him back. "Don't push me!"

I knew that this was going to end badly.

"I didn't…" Caveman got to his feet. He looked around. Mom was filling Zero's canteen.

ZigZag pushed him again. "I said, 'Don't push me.'"

Caveman took a step back. ZigZag kept after him. He shoved Caveman and said, "Quit pushing!"

"Lay off," said TC, as she and the rest of us joined them.

"Why should he?" snapped Squid. "Caveman's bigger. He can take care of himself."

"We don't want to get into trouble," Hype said.

ZigZag pushed him hard. "Eat my cookie," he said.

Mom was coming toward us along with Zero.

"Hi, Mom," Princess said. "We were just fooling around."

"I saw what was going on," Mom said. He turned to Caveman. "Go ahead, Stanley," he said. "Hit him back. You're bigger."

We stared at Mom in astonishment.

"Teach the bully a lesson," said Mom.

ZigZag hit Caveman on the shoulder with his open hand. "Teach me a lesson," he challenged.

Caveman made a feeble attempt to punch ZigZag, then ZigZag punched both of his fist against Caveman's head and neck. ZigZag had a hold of his collar with one hand and was hitting him with the other. The collar ripped and Caveman fell backward onto the dirt.

"That's enough!" Mom yelled.

It wasn't enough for ZigZag. He jumped on top of Stanley.

"Stop!" TC yelled.

It was as if time was in slow motion, Zero jumped on ZigZag and started to choke him. ZigZag got off of Caveman and started gasping for air. This was the scariest thing I had seen at this camp yet.

"You're going to kill him!" shouted Princess.

Zero kept squeezing. Armpit charged into them, freeing ZigZag from Zero's choke hold. The three boys fell to the ground in different directions.

Mom fired his pistol into the air.

The other counselors came running from the office, the tents, or out on the lake. They had their guns drawn, but holstered them when they saw the trouble was over.

The Warden walked over from her cabin.

"There was a riot," Mom told her. "Zero almost strangled Ricky."

The Warden looked at ZigZag, who was still stretching and messaging his neck. The she turned her attention to Caveman, who was obviously in the worst condition. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing. It wasn't a riot."

"Ziggy was beating up the Caveman," said Hype. "Then Zero started choking ZigZag, and Armpit had to pull Zero off of ZigZag. It was all over before Mom fired his gun."

"They just got a little hot, that's all," said Squid. "You know how it is. In the sun all day. People get hot, right? But everything's cool now."

"I see," the Warden said. She turned to ZigZag. "What's the matter? Didn't you get a puppy for your birthday?"

"Zig's just a little hot," said Squid. "Out in the sun all day. You know how it is. The blood starts to boil."

"Is that what happened, ZigZag?" asked the Warden.

"Yeah," said ZigZag. "Like Squid said. Working so hard in the hot sun, while Caveman just sits around doing nothing. My blood boiled."

"Excuse me?" said the Warden. "Caveman digs his holes, just like everyone else."

ZigZag shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Excuse me?"

"Ma'am, Zero's been digging part of Caveman's hole every day," I said.

The Warden looked from me to Caveman to Zero.

"I'm teaching him to read and write," said Caveman. "It's sort of a trade. The hole still gets dug, so what does it matter who digs it?"

"Excuse me?" said the Warden.

"Isn't it more important for him to learn to read?" Caveman asked. "Doesn't that build character more than digging holes?"

"That's his character," said the Warden. "What about your character?"

Caveman raised and lowered one shoulder.

The Warden turned to Zero. "Well, Zero, what have you learned so far?"

Zero said nothing.

"Have you just been digging Caveman's hole for nothing?" the Warden asked him.

"He likes to dig holes," said Mom.

"Tell me what you learned yesterday," said the Warden. "Surely you can remember that."

Zero said nothing.

Mom laughed. He picked up a shovel and said, "You might as well try to teach this shovel to read! It's got more brains the Zero."

"The 'at' sound," said Zero.

"The 'at' sound," repeated the Warden. "Well then, tell me, what does c-a-t spell?"

Zero glanced around uneasily. "Cat," Zero said.

Mom clapped his hands. "Bravo! Bravo! The boy's a genius!"

"F-a-t?" asked the Warden.

Zero thought a moment.

"Eff," Zero whispered. "Eff-at. Fat."

"How about h-a-t?" asked the Warden.

Zero concentrated hard, then said, "Chat."

All the counselors laughed. Me and the rest of the girls felt really bad for him.

"He's a genius, all right!" said Mom. "He's so stupid, he doesn't even know he's stupid."

I didn't know why Mom seemed to have it in for Zero.

"Okay, from now on, I don't want anyone digging anyone else's hole," said the Warden. "And no more reading lessons."

"I'm not digging another hole," said Zero.

"Good," said the Warden. She turned to Caveman. "You know why you're digging holes? Because it's good for you. It teaches you a lesson. If Zero digs your holes for you, then you're not learning your lesson, are you?"

"I guess not," Caveman mumbled. "Why can't I dig my own hole, but still teach Zero to read?" he asked. "What's wrong with that?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong with that," the Warden said. "It leads to trouble. Zero almost killed ZigZag."

"It causes him stress," said Mom. "I know you mean well, Stanley, but face it. Zero's too stupid to learn to read. That's what made his blood boil. Not the hot sun."

"I'm not digging another hole," said Zero.

Mom handed him the shovel. "Here, take it, Zero. It's all you'll ever be good for. What does d-i-g spell?"

Zero took the shovel. Then he swung it like a baseball bat. The metal blade hit across Mom's face. His knees crumpled beneath him. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Zero bent down and said, "Dig." Then he ran off.

We all watch him as he left.

The Warden turned towards us, then looked at Caveman. "I still expect fourteen holes."

* * *

JainaZekk621 : Thank you so much. I love reading your reviews for my story.

Running to Stand Still : Ha. I wouldn't be that devestated if you killed her off. I wish Squid was mine too. And I love your reviews.

Haircut Scissors : I love that my story for Holes is one of the best you've ever read, I put a lot of energy in making sure it is enjoyable.

Magenta Stone : Thank you so much.

Trix are for kids: I like that line too. Thank you for the review.

Prancing Flamingo: I'm glad my story is one of the first good ones you have read; I do my best. Thank you for the review.

And thank you to everyone else who reads my story. I love you all.

Dee


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

"I can't believe Zero ran away," Dutchess said.

"It's all Squid and ZigZag's fault, if they just left him alone he would still be here," Stranger said. She was furious and depressed; and the only things keeping her from killing Squid and ZigZag were me and Princess.

"Hey, it is mostly Caveman's fault. He's the one who made the deal with him. He knew no one would be a big fan of that; especially Squid and ZigZag. They have been here the longest out of any of us. He knew they weren't going to take that lying down," I said calmly defending Squid. I knew it was partly his fault; he just wouldn't let up. "Besides, it was mostly Ziggy's fault."

"Hey!" Princess said. We all looked at her.

"What do you care if it was ZigZag's fault or not?" Hype said in a knowing way.

"Oh my goodness…you like him!" Dutchess said excitedly.

"Yeah, well…shut up. Don't blame this all on ZigZag," Princess said.

"Why not? He was the one who started the fight between him and Caveman, which led to Zero's running away!" Stranger said looking at Princess dangerously.

"Well, he wouldn't have started the fight if Caveman wasn't allowing Zero to dig part of his hole; so, this is all Caveman's fault," Princess yelled.

"Hey! Caveman was saving his energy to teach Zero how to read. And, I think Zero's education is more important than who digs a hole," TC yelled over all of us.

We all looked at her.

"Well, yeah, I know that. But, when he tried telling us that before we all thought it was ridiculous. TC, even you were pissed off," I said.

"Yeah, I know I was. But, now that I know it was true I feel horrible. I mean, Caveman did what he thought was best for Zero. He was giving him an education," TC said.

"When did you start defending anybody? Let alone Caveman?" Princess asked.

"I don't know; something about him is so…" TC said trailing off.

"I knew it!" I yelled. "You like Caveman! I am so good!"

'How on earth did you know?" TC asked scared at my outburst.

"It is so obvious. You are always sticking up for him. Whenever he isn't talking to anybody, you go out of your way to talk to him. And I know you don't go out of your way for just anybody," I said smirking.

"Hey, what I want to know is: Stranger, why are you all of a sudden loud and in our faces about this?" Hype chirped.

"Um…"

"Yeah, you are usually quiet and reserved. Why are you all interest in Zero's problems?" Dutchess asked.

"Um…"

"Come on we want to know," TC asked.

"Don't make me say it. I know you guys know why," Stranger pleaded.

"I'm not sure we do. Say it Stranger," I said smiling.

"I hate you guys," Stranger moaned.

"Oh…Stranger and Zero sitting in a tree," Princess sang quietly.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" the rest of us joined in.

"Oh, shut up! Fine! Fine! I like Zero! Are you happy now?" Stranger yelled.

We all laughed, and then saw Stranger face. Then we just laughed harder. Then Dutchess decided to come out with a confession.

"Since, you guys have come out with who you like. I think I should tell you that I like-"

"Magnet," we all bluntly said.

"What? How did you know that?" Dutchess asked surprised.

"_Oh, Magnet is so sexy_," I said walking over to her and put my arm around her shoulder.

"_Oh, Magnet is so funny_," TC joined me.

"Dutchess, it was kind of hard not to tell," Hype said.

"Well, what about you Hype? You must like someone," TC said her.

"And, if you say my brother, I swear I will throw up," I warned her.

"Well, I don't, and Twist no offence but your brother is…"

"Hey, we maybe fraternal, but we still look a lot alike. But, I am the more fortunate looking one, so I get your point," I said half defending Lewis.

"Hey, did you hear? Mom said we are already getting a new guy to replace Zero," Dutchess said.

"Already?" Hype said. "Is there like a waiting line for this place?"

"Probably, I don't like that when they give you this option they don't really describe it very well. It should be named something else. I remember hearing the name and thinking, 'Camp Green Lake sounds okay. Maybe they have lake activities.' Boy, was I wrong," Princess said.

"At least you guys had an option," I said. "I was going to be sent to a girl's detention center. But, my parents are in the social crowd, so saying their daughter is in a detention center is like suicide in their book. So, they paid for me to come here. I had no choice in the matter."

"Well, at least here there are guys. I would be bored to death if I was stuck around girls all day," Dutchess said.

"Yeah, I guess," I said. "Hey, I don't feel like being around the guys right now, I'll make sandwiches for y'all."

"Okay," they all chorused.

So, I made everyone a sandwich and we went to sleep.

The next morning was really quiet and uncomfortable. Nobody talked to anybody, we just walked in silence. It was a really uneventful digging day. Nobody talked, we just dug and dug. After we all finished lunch, we watched as the bus drove past us with the new kid. I finished my hole after the guys, and went back to the site to shower, leaving the girls and Caveman digging in silence. I got out of the shower and walked back to my tent to get dressed and check out the new guy.

I walked up to the guys' tent and yelled, "Your queen is here, are you all dressed?"

Squid opened the flaps and said, "Yes, Your Shortness."

"Nice, a crack at my height. Those are always so funny," I said striding past him.

"You know I didn't mean it," he said kissing my cheek.

"So, I guess you're the new guy," I said walking around him. He was taller than me, surprise, but not by a lot. Probably 5'4". Blond hair, brown eyes, and he twitched insanely. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" he said, twitching.

"You're twitching," I said.

"Oh, yeah. I always do that. My name's Brian," he said twitching all through the sentences.

"No, you're defiantly Twitch," I said.

"No, I'm defiantly Brian."

"Oh, well, now you're Twitch. Own it, embrace it, love it. You're officially apart of D-Tent. And, I am Twist," I said.

"Okay, why are you called Twist?"

"Watch this," Squid said as we went out of the tent.

I stood still and did a front hand spring, back hand spring, front hand spring, back tuck, with a full twisting layout. "That's why."

"How did you do that?" Twitch asked.

"You are looking at the State of Texas Gymnast Champion of the Teen Division," I said walking back into the tent.

"Are there other girls here?" Twitch asked.

"Yeah, they should all be here in a couple of minutes," Armpit said.

Sure enough, the rest of the girls came in after Caveman.

"Okay, this is Caveman, TC, Princess, Dutchess, Stranger, and Hype. Guys this is Twitch," I said.

"I can see that," Hype said sitting down next to Twitch. "What'd you do to end up here, Twitch?"

"I stole a car. I never planned to, you know, steal one," he told us. "But sometime, you know, I'll be walking past a real nice car, parked in a deserted area, and, you know, I'll just start twitching. If you think I twitch now, you should see me when I'm around a car. The next thing I know, I'm behind the wheel. I can break into a car, disconnect the alarm, and hot-wire the engine, all in less than a minute."

"Uh-huh," Hype said. "I just broke a girl's arm."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and her leg, and put her in a coma."

"Why?"

"She called me a bitch."

"Hey," said Twitch, turning his attention to the rest of us. "Do we really have to get up at 4 a.m.?"

"You get used to it," Hype said before any of us could open our mouth. "It's the coolest part of the day."

I was sitting next to Squid watching Hype and Twitch.

"You know, you could be less obvious about watching people," Squid whispered into my ear.

"I'm not watching people," I whispered back.

"Sure, Hype and Twitch are just in your main view."

"Shut up," I kiss kissing him quickly.

"Hey, you two. Don't do that around me," Lewis said from across the tent.

I rolled my eyes. The dinner bell rang and we all went to the Mess Hall. I knew that I would have to make Twitch a sandwich after this, as I did for all the new people in our tent. It would be the last two pieces of bread, and I would just have a jar a peanut butter. So, it was after dinner and I made a sandwich for him, kissed Squid goodnight, and went to bed.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

The next morning, out on the lake, I listened as Mr. Sir told Twitch the requirements for his hole: "…as wide and as deep as your shovel."

Twitch fidgeted. His fingers drummed against the wooden shaft of his shovel, and his neck moved from side to side.

"You won't be twitching so much after digging all day," TC told him.

"You won't have the strength to wiggle your pinkie," Hype chirped in.

The water truck came shortly after sunrise. Twitch was sent to the back of the line by Squid. We all watched as Mr. Sir filled Squid's canteen. The image of Zero crawling across the hot dry dirt remained in my head. But what could I do about it? Zero probably wasn't even alive, and if he was how would I find him? I watched as Caveman slowly backed away from the line, and then circled over to the side of the truck. He flung open the door to the truck and climbed quickly inside.

"Hey!" shouted Mr. Sir.

I heard the engine rev, but the truck didn't move. Then the engine roared, but the truck was still motionless. Mr. Sir ran around the side of the truck. The door was still open.

"Put it in gear!" shouted Twitch.

The truck lurched forward. It started going faster and faster across the dry lake bed. It bounced over a pile of dirt, and landed in a hole. The girls and I gasped. The guys were cheering Caveman on. Caveman got out of the truck and started running in the direction Zero left. I couldn't believe it. What is this? Every-Other-Day-Somebody-Run-Away week? I looked at TC; she looked like she was going to cry.

"TC?" I said trying to get a reaction out of her.

"He. Is. Such. An. Idiot. He is going to die in three days. He could have a least waited to refill his canteen," TC said with a tear running down her left cheek.

"I know," I said.

"Why? Why did he just run off?" TC was starting to cry. It was really freaky. She always seemed the most collected out of all of us.

"He is going after Zero, and nothing we would have said would have made a difference," I said walking up to her. "Are you going to be okay?"

TC flung her arms around me and started to bawl. I was thrown off by her and was only still standing because she was holding me up.

"It's going to be okay," I said awkwardly patting her back. "He'll come back. Caveman's a big boy."

TC let go of me and tried to get control over herself. "Yeah, your right. He's a smart guy, he'll be back. I'm just overreacting." She went back to her hole and started to dig.

"TC?" Hype said.

"He's coming back. Don't you worry, he'll be back," TC said looking up briefly. We could all see she was still crying.

Nobody wanted to push her back to crying, so we just left her to dig. She needed sometime to just think to herself. I hope she would be okay. Today was the only day I had ever seen her break down. I think she bottles up her emotions, and then every once in a while; she just cracks. I hope I never see it happen again. I was dangling in the air for about three minutes. I looked up from my hole to see all the guys staring at TC.

"Hey, are your feet melted to the ground? Get back to digging," I yelled at them.

That seemed to bring them out of their stunned gaze. Squid looked at me and I gave him the We-Discuss-It-Later look. He seemed satisfied because he went back to his hole.

Mom came after a while with lunch. We all lined up and received a warm bologna sandwich, a bruised apple, two gram crackers, and a warm carton of orange juice. All of us, sat around TC to make sure she was okay.

"So, I wonder if anyone is coming to replace Caveman?" Armpit said trying to make conversation.

"Why would they replace him? He is coming back," TC snapped.

"Of course he is TC. Armpit was just kidding, right?" Princess said worried about another outbreak.

"Yeah. Haha. Caveman will probably be back in less than a week," Armpit said.

"TC, me and you will wait for Zero and Caveman to come back together," Stranger said patting TC's arm while she got up to go back to digging her hole.

"Hey, we can plan their welcome back party," Dutchess said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that will make the wait that much shorter," Hype said bouncing up to go back to digging.

"Sure, but Stranger and I get to plan most of it," TC said happily.

Slowly, but surely the rest of us finished lunch and got up. I was the last one to leave, and TC pulled on my arm before I got all the way back to my unfinished hole.

"Twist, he is coming back, isn't he?" she asked me.

I looked into her poor face and told her, "Of course, TC. Why wouldn't he? I bet when he gets back, he'll give you a big hug hello." I felt bad for lying to her, but I didn't want her to sulk around. My response seemed to satisfy her because she let go of my arm and went back to digging.

When we were all showered, we went to the Wreck Room. Squid and I were playing pool against Twist and Hype. Princess and ZigZag were watching TV. And Magnet, Lewis, Armpit, Dutchess, TC, and Stranger were watching as Squid and I were losing. And sadly, it was all my fault. I tried to convince Squid that I was a horrible partner and that no matter what we would lose.

"And there goes the 8 ball in the corner pocket," Hype said.

"Well, y'all won. Just like I said. But, somebody doesn't care if he wins or not," I said looking up at Squid.

"Would you rather I play with TC?" he asked.

"No, I'd rather you play with ZigZag," I said. I trust Squid and TC, and everybody else. But, I have jealousy issues. Yes, even I have problems.

"Well, we don't care who you play with, but now it's now mine and Barfbag's turn to beat TC and Stranger," Magnet said shooing us away from the pool table.

"You wish," TC said setting up the game.

"Ladies, would you like to break?" Lewis said.

"Sure, Stranger, you can do it," TC said stepping back from the table.

Stranger stepped up the table and took her shot. The result was amazing, something not everyone gets to experience in a life time. Every single ball except the white one went into a pocket. Magnet and Lewis stood their with their mouths open wide.

"We win. That was fun," Stranger said handing her cue stick to Armpit.

I looked at Squid and Squid looked at me, there was a moment of silence and we burst out laughing. We were laughing until the dinner bell rang and then I had to lean on Squid for support because I was trying to catch my breath.

"Okay, you two shut up. You guys lost too," Lewis said very annoyed.

"Yeah, we lost, but we actually got a chance to play," Squid said smiling.

We ate dinner and went to bed. I had a lovely dream of the day Squid taught me to play pool.

* * *

Running to Stand Still : You should feel very special. Let Squid go, set him free. But, then again, he might never come back. Sorry, no chances of Twist disappearing. I'm very proud you saw them getting together, maybe you have a second sight? Thanks for reviewing!

JainaZekk621: Thank you very much.

Magenta Stone: Thank you very much as well.

Thanks to everyone who reads this. Please review, I want to know what you think.

Love always,

Dee


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

It had been two days, and Caveman and Zero still weren't back. Everybody, but TC and Stranger, were positive that they were dead in the middle of a desert. Stranger was more realistic than TC though; TC was still under the allusion that Caveman would be back any second. Stranger knew that there was a great possibility they weren't coming back, but she hoped.

We were digging our holes, we were now being observed by Mom, so the rest of us wouldn't run away also. Since Mom was there, we couldn't talk freely. And since we couldn't talk freely, we didn't talk at all. The guys were just concentrating on getting their holes dug. I was watching TC to make sure she wouldn't have another meltdown. TC and Stranger would just look up every once in a while and scan the horizon to make sure if Caveman and Zero were coming back they would know. Hype, Princess, and Dutchess were also watching them and the horizon. I couldn't imagine if Squid ran away, and I already threatened him that if he did and he made it back; I would pound him into the ground. All he did was laugh and kiss my forehead. I looked toward the 'road' and I saw a police car and a Jaguar driving up to the camp. I was finished with my hole, and walked back with Squid, who had patiently been waiting on me.

"I wonder who that is? Did y'all ever get a visit from the police before?" I asked him.

"No, maybe they found out Caveman ran away," Squid said.

We took our showers, and decided to see what was up with the visitors. One was a woman, and she was yelling at the Warden. The other was a cop and he was just making sure nothing got out of hand probably. We couldn't here what the Warden on the woman were yelling about, but when she walked out of the office she yelled back to the Warden. She said something she would be back in the morning with a court order. The Warden came out of the office and saw me and Squid.

"Well, what are you two doing? Go to the Wreck Room or something," she said harshly.

"Yes, ma'am," Squid and I said hurrying off.

I saw the rest of the gang coming up to us. TC ran up to me.

"Why were they here? Was it about Caveman? Tell me what you know!" she said shaking my shoulders.

I couldn't help it; I slapped her. "TC get a grip. I'll I know is that she is coming back tomorrow with a court order. I don't know what for, but she is coming back." I walked into my tent, Squid was following me close behind.

"Do you want to explain why you just slapped TC?" he asked sitting down on my bed.

I was walking around the tent. "She doesn't shut up about Caveman. I know she is worried about him, but still they weren't even together. I swear if she asks me one more time about whether he is coming back or not I will just tell her that he is dead. I don't care anymore. Why do they come to me with their problems? I don't know everything. I just want them to start acting normal again." I said sinking down next to him. I put my head on his shoulder and asked, "Is it wrong that I want TC to stop grieving for Caveman just because they weren't together? I mean I could act that way if you left."

"Well, yes, it is kind of bad that you want that. Don't give me that look; you know I'm right," he said bluntly.

"I know, I know! I'm a horrible person! I should be comforting TC and Stranger, not slapping them! I need to go apologize, thanks Squid," I said running out of the tent. I ran all the way to the Wreck Room, found TC, ran to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry TC, I have no idea what you are going through, and I shouldn't have slapped you."

"It's okay Twist. I needed a good slap in the face," TC said prying my arms off of her.

"Sorry," I said looking up at her.

"Don't worry about it," TC said smiling at me. "But, to make it up to me, you could let me beat you at pool."

"Deal," I said grabbing a cue stick.

Again, I lost, but I didn't care. TC and I were cool again. I also have issues with being mad at people if you hadn't noticed. We ate 'dinner' and went to bed.

The next morning Mom and Mr. Sir came to each tent and told us that we didn't have to dig today if we just went in the Mess Hall and kept quiet. I was perfectly fine with this, because I could just sleep there. Wrong. People would not shut up. _'What's going on? Do you think something happened? Why are we in here?'_ I have answers to those questions: Nobody cares but you. Of course something happened you idiot. Because something happened. I looked around at everyone and rolled my eyes. I knew we were going to be in here for a while, because we had already been in here for an hour. Then something struck my thoughts.

"Hey, what if we're in here because they found Caveman and Zero?" I yelled over everybody in D-Tent.

They all looked at me. Nobody said anything.

"Well, never mind," I said putting my head back down. I didn't think it sounded that ridiculous.

"That might actually be it," Lewis said. We all looked at him.

"See, I can make sense if I want to," I said lifting my head.

I looked at TC, she was thinking about how much of a possibility that was.

"Yeah, that could be why," she said slowly.

"No, there are probably just yellow spotted lizards around the Library," Magnet said.

That was a more logical situation, but why would they make us stay in the Mess Hall. We all went silent and just sat there. In a hour, I heard the Warden's voice outside. I got up and looked out the window to see what was going on. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Squid, look out here. Do you see what I see?" I asked. They all got up from the table and looked out the window with me.

"Oh my God!" TC screamed and ran out of the Mess Hall, with Stranger right behind her. I looked at Hype, Dutchess, and Princess and ran right behind TC and Stranger. When we got outside TC was kissing Caveman, and Stranger was hugging Zero. I couldn't tell what Caveman was thinking, but Zero looked surprised but happy.

"Hey, Caveman! Hey, Zero! Is that really you guys?" Squid yelled. TC and Stranger pulled away from them. I elbowed Squid in the stomach. He was ruining TC's and Stranger's moment. Soon, we were all surrounding Caveman and Zero.

"Good to see you, man," Armpit said, shaking his hand. We thought you were buzzard food."

"Stanley is being released today," said Mom.

"Way to go," said Magnet, hitting him on the shoulder. We all looked at Caveman.

"And you didn't even have to step on a rattlesnake," Lewis joked.

Even ZigZag shook Caveman's hand. "Sorry about…you know."

"It's cool," said Caveman.

"We had to lift the truck clear out of the hole," ZigZag told him.

"Yeah, and y'all needed our help to lift it," Princess laughed.

"It was really cool," Twitch said.

"Guess what?" Squid said, glancing at Mom. "Mom says we don't have to dig any more holes."

"That's great," Caveman said.

"Will you do me a favor?" asked Armpit.

"I guess," Caveman agreed, somewhat hesitantly.

"I want you to-" He turned to the woman, "Hey, lady, you have a pen and paper I can borrow?"

She gave it to him, and Armpit wrote down a phone number which he gave to Caveman. "Call my mom for me, okay? Tell her…Tell her I said I was sorry. Tell her _Theodore_ said he was sorry."

Caveman promised he would.

"Now, you be careful out in the real world," said TC, about to cry again. "Not everybody is as nice as us."

Caveman smiled. The Warden came out of the office. The cop was right behind her.

"My office is having some difficulty locating Hector Zeroni's records," the Warden said.

I looked at Zero. "You're name is Hector?"

Zero looked at me and nodded.

"Cool," I said.

"So you have no claim of authority over him?" asked the woman.

"I didn't say that. He's in the computer. We just can't access his records. It's like they've fallen through a hole in cyberspace," the Warden exclaimed.

"A hole in cyberspace," the woman repeated. "How interesting. When is his release date?"

"I don't know."

"How long has he been here?"

"Like I said, we can't-"

"So what are you planning to do with him? Keep him confined indefinitely, without justification, while you go crawling throught black holes in cyberspace?"

The Warden looked at her. "He was obviously incarcerated for a reason."

"Oh? And what reason was that?"

The Warden said nothing.

Caveman's lawyer took hold of Zero's hand. "C'mon, Hector, you're coming with us.

As they were walking to her car, thunder sounded. We walked out from under the walkways roof. It's started to rain. The guys were ecstatic. They had been here the longest and the rain was probably like a dream come true. Squid wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me around in the rain. When he stopped, I was dizzy and wet. I looked at his face, he looked like a little boy who was told Christmas was coming early. I stood on my tip-toes and kissed him. We all watched as Caveman and Zero were taken away. I had a feeling we would see each other really soon.

* * *

Hey, y'all! That was the last chapter. I hope you liked it. I have a sequel in mind. But, I'll only write it if y'all want me to. I'm going on vacation soon, and if most of you want a sequel I post it when I come back.

Love always,

Dee


	27. Author's Note

Okay, so yeah, I couldn't wait. The Sequel's first chapter is up. It's late I'm bored, get over it. It's called No More Holes and Maybe Some Surprises.

Love always,

Dee


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